The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 15, 1896, Page 8

8 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1896. "THE CHURCK AND THE SCRIPTURES," Archbishop Riordan Ex- plains How They Harmonizg. HIS GREAT LECTURE. The Prelate Declares the Church | Lives Independent of the | Bible. TRANSLATIONS OF SCRIPTURES. | The Bible in Religious Society Com- pared to the Constitution in Civil | Government. | The Most Rev. Archbishop Riordan de- | livered a lecture on *“Phe Church and the | Scriptures” | audience at Metrovolitan Hall last night. | His Grace held the undivided attention of | tbe immense gathering for nearly two | hours. The discourse covered a wide field of history, showing extensive research and | profound learning. Many prominent clergymen occupied seats on the platform, which was decorated | with palms and overhung with the National | colors. This was the last lecture of the | series under the auspices of the San Fran- | cisco Educational Union. When the eminent prelate walked out on | the platform the people rose to their feet | out of respect for him. The Archbishop | wasted no time in preliminaries, and was soon lost in his subject. He spoke as fol- lows: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: The object of this le¢tire is to indicate, as briefly 8s the importance of the subject will permit me, the part the Holy Scriptures hold in the Catbolic system of theology, the grounds on which the discipline of the church, respecting the reading of them in the vernacular tongue, rests—anid point out the solicitude of the Caths olic church in prescrving in all its purity and iutegrity the written word of God. The theme is 160 ample to be compressed within the limits of & single lecture, and 1 cen only call your at- beforea large and cultured | tention to the proiinent paris of the subject We will first examine how Christ our Lord intended hist to be transmitted to the world, what m v e that men living far removed from the one in which be lived might be enabled to arrive with a positive certainty at & knowledge of the '€ Whose acceptance Le made obligatory R LORD CAME AS GOD AND MAN fallen man. But his sole mission Was not to sk tice of Goa for sins committed, but OTm & VAst community of a re, a_community whi would not be conterminous with any country or nation; dependent on himself alone for ifs power and author; whose dominion would comme i and continue throughout ! He wished to break down the odious | h existed in ages preceding his coming, between man and man, between nation end nation, that there might be “one fold and one shepherd.” He came to dispel the darkness w clouded the intellect of | b mind a correct idea of | sted between him and 16t end he bequeathed to on, which all men were making their intellects, as | 2 to the faith,” if they share in the inheritance of s, for “*he that believeth not | ned.” It is, therefore, evident | se faith or “body of docirine” given by Lord to the world wes to be preserved in- until the end of time. ALL CHRISTIANS ADMIT BHIS, | to infuse int, atio; his creator. To mankind a relig ed to receiv hosen on; shall be condem No matter what political revolutions might | sweep over the earth,no matter what new theories might he brosched in. clvil govern- ment no matter what developments the arts nees might assume, the fundamental | es on which Christ built his chureh, | ihe eternal truths which were 10 be its life. were always, and under every changed con tlon of things, to remain the same. They were | 10 be lik 1, Peul, is “vesterday, to-day and the same for. ever”” They might be better known, more jully drawn’ out into the conclusions which | they contain, but they were to be in all times | substantial ¢ same. And on this point all | Christians sgree. For what is & Christian but a fallower of Christ? And who can be called a follower of Christ but he who receives with | unquestioning faith and with childlike sim- plicity the teachings of Christ? All Clristians | svveal continually to the words of our Savior in their behali; end the resson alleged by | those who are not of the fold of the | Catholic church for not receiving mauy | of its doctrines is precisely that the | Catholic church no longer teacheés what Christ revepled; that in ages long passed, when as only in its cradle and the human nfancy «of its development— | many under the name of the “dark ages,”” because many are 1n the dark re- | specting them—the Catholic church praposed | new doctrines, & new system of relizious belief, | the more effect 0 retain in her grasp the | ntellectual supremacy of the worid; to be not | mistress of the political world, but also of the consciences of the human race. It does not concern us at present what ex- | planation may be given for their refusal to submit to Catholic doetrine it is sufficient for | our present purpose that they admit with us that the doctrine revealed by Christ was to be received and believed not only by those who | were contemporaries with the apostles, the | first teachers of Christian truth, but of all men | in every age of the world. Butto have pro- | posed this doctrine and commanded submis- | slon of man’s intellect to its teaching was not | sufficient to insure its perpetaity. 1t would | be the part of a wise legislator to have | provided a constitution on which & society was | 10 be founded, unless at the same time he had | provided most efficacious means by which all men might come o a knowledge of its princi- | ples, and oy which it might be transmitted | unimpaired to the remotest generation, IF CHRIST OUR LORD MAD NOT PROVIDED Some such means, how are we—living in the nineteenth century—to be absolutely certain of what he taught in'the first? We might, indeed, glean from the writings of contemporary historians a few scanty outlines of hisdoctrine; a few traits of his character; & few items of his private and public life. - They might tell us, for instance, that in the reign of the first Augustus, an extraordinary man ap- peared in the Easi, who preached doctrines whose beatity and sublimity told of a heavenly origin; how great multitudes followed him a% he evangelized Judea and Samaria; who walked on the storm-tossed sea as if it were 4ry land; who meade the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak; at whose poteut word the grave gave up its dead. They woula tell ull of r;ismaeuh.!r{.flulrreczlon &nd how at the close of his earthly life he triumphantly as. cended into heaven. Y % But all these details would not suffice for the establishment and perpetuity of the Christian religion. We would not find in the, scattered frag- ments of historical documents that convine b ing authority of Christ’s word or the obliga- tion of receiving with unhesitating faith fih doctrines, Some means, therefore, were to be provided by Christ whereby men in every age could as- certain with an infallible certainty the doc- trines which our Lord intended should bé em- bodied in the system of religion which he gave the world. On this point all Christians agree. But what means were provided? Here two different sys- tems clnim our attention. The Protestant tells us that we are_to find the doctrines of Chrjst by reading the Scriptures. According 1o his belief, it is God’s unerr- ing yord and contains all the truths which Christ taught. Consequently we are to consult the Bible, It is to be to us the only rule of faith. In it and in it elone can we learn the conditions of cternal life; and we are permit- ted tointerpret it without the aid of an exter- nal authority, either by the supernatural aid of the Holy Ghost or by the vatural :ight of our own finite and erring reason. This is the principle which, in theory at least, 1s admitted to be the vital principle of the Protestent system. And if in practice Protestants court the alliance of an_external suthority it is done in direct contradiction to | b their own system, using tor their own purposes & power which tney declare despotic in others. THE BARLY REFORMERS IN THE FIRST PHASE OF THE REFORMATION, Though they rejected the external authority of the church as the interpreter of Seripture, were convinced, however, of the necessity of some infailible medinm through which man might attain to the knowledge of the Christian system. Tney had nomore intention of leav- ing the decision of doctrinal points to the un- aided light of man’s intellect than the Catholic church had. 3 They did not admit as large or as free a field for the exercise of the powers of the mind as is enjoyed under the so much apused but so 1n’1- perfectly understood doctrine of the church’s infallibifity. This is their doetrine: As in the work of man’s salyation all human co-operation is to be rejected, so also in the interpretation of the Scriptures the whole work of interpretation is 10 be attributed to God. Luther discarded all human alloy from his religious system. According to him the Holy Spirit reveais to each man the trune meaning and import of the words which he reads. “The Holy_Spirit readeth the Seriptures, not thou.” And in snother place, “The belieyer comes to the knowledge of the truth instructed by God alone. The sense of the sacred Scripiures was engendered in the ming,” without the aid, as Zuinglius said, “of hunan reflection or mental activity.” Th! s the first phase of their doctrine re- i{wcling the place the Scriptures hold its Chris- tian theology. But before many ycars had elapsed the principle of immediate inspiration was rejected and the interpretation of the holy Scriptures made to depend onthe private judgmentof the reader unaided by any super- naturel light. < This is the real state of the controversy, it we except a few sects who still hold that {heir adherents are favored with the’ immediate in- spiration of the Holy Ghost. IN CATHOLIC SYSTEM We come to the knowledge of our Lord’s teach- | ing not airectly through the Bible, but directly through the church which interprets the | Bible. The Catholic church holds the Bible to be | the word of God and that it contains the reve- latvions made by Christ to his apostles; that in it are to be found those eternal truths, those | never failing principles of virtue and true | morality which underlie the Christian sys- tem; that through it God communes with the sons of men, the majesty of whose inspired language is only equaled by the sublimity of the thought which it conv The Catholic church holds that the Bible is the “Magna Charta” of true liberty and givilization; that when its principles cease to be the basis of the code of laws of any people, that people must sink into a barbarism as deplorable as that which existed in the world betore our Lord came into it. But the principles of the Bible are not to be admired only, they are to be applied to the Te- quirements of man in the various necessities of his nature. the heart of each individual to sbape his course of life, to govern and control all his | actions. In the Catholic systom the power which in- | terprets those principles ahd supplies them is the authority of the church, residing in her appointed ministers, and not each individual of the Christian society. 3 We will study the question more in detail. Christ during his life on earth formed a visible community of twelve apostles, whom he him- seif instructed in the truths of the religion which he establisbed. X After his sscension the Holy Spirit de- scended on them, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, filling them with the spirit of truth, atter which they commenced the work of con: verting the nations according to their Master’s icjunction, **Go forth into the whole worid, teach all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever 1 have commanded you: and behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.” They com- menced their mission in Jerusalem. At St. Peter’s first sermon three thousand of his hearers are moved by grace and receive the faith. ON HIM HAS CHRIST BUILT HIS CHURCH And calls him a rock around which the storms | of persecution might rise. 1t was never to be | snuken. Crowds press around him through Pelestine, listening in breathless silence as_ne explains the doctrines of Christ’s new king- dom. A potent spell goes over the land, minds op of conversion goes on. In the beginning ly, one by one, each in his turn, as grace inspired him; till whole nations are gathered 10 the fold of the true church -and bow down | before the sweet mysterious influence of the | | eross of Christ. The apostles did not remain long together. St. Thomas goes to ludia, St. Matthew to Egypt, St. James toSpain. St. Paul visits all the countries from Palestine to Spain. The islands of the sea did not escape his apostolic vigilance. He preaciied to the philosobhers of Greece and reproached them with their idola- tries. THE VOICE OF ST. PAUL. Amid the conflicting opinions ot pagan Rome his voice is heard and in spite ol imperial edicts ne gathers around him & band of chosen believers. Before half of the first century the faith of Christ is carried to all the people oithe civilized worl This work was accomplished without the aid of Scriptures, -The first'book of the New Testa- ment was not written until about ten years | after the Savior's death,and the last not un- til about the sixty-fifth year of the first cen- tury. All the churches did not receive all the 00ks at the same tiine, nor were many of them written for the universal church. St. Matthew wrote for the Jews converted to Christianity, St. Mark_at the request of the {feithful at Rome, St. Luke for the gentiles, St. John 10 comply with the wishes of his iriends. St. Paul’s letters were addressed to particular churches. We have his Epistles to the Ro- mans, to the Corinthians, o the Galatians,and even to individuais—for instance, to Titus, to Timothy and to Philemon. They were writien to decide locsl questions, to advise in partticu- lar - circumstances, -sometimes very briefly | withhelding more ample instruction till he would visit them in person. From the charac- | ter of the growth of the Dbeyond doubt that thou held to be divinely s gfimltivc church it is the Seriptures were red they were nat in- tended by the inspired writers to bear the | character of a universal law, vor were they in- tended to be_the only source from which the | world was to derive its knowledge of the re- | ligion of Christ. < What conclusion is to be drawn from these facts, whieh give the history of the spread of Christianity? The conclusion illustrates and confirms the doctrine of the Catholic church. It is this: A LARGE VISIBLE COMMUNITY EXISTS, Its hierarchy is complete; its discipline is every day being more fully developed and per- fectea; the voice of its minister is heard every- where; rich_and poor belong to it: men the most léarned end men the most illiterate; bar- barous nations that mever heard of human science were won over to_its faith. Irenzus tells us, the work of their conversion was accomplished ‘‘sine charta et sine atra- | | ment” (without paper and without ink), that is, without learned comtroversy, without the reading or profound study of the Scriptures. Every part of this vast organism 1is workin, in most admirable harmony. ‘The same fait] is vreached everywhere. it is announced in Rome; the same is heard in Aihens and Alex- andria; St. Paul teaches it in strong and burn- ing language; St. John teaches the same doe- trine in words of gentleness and charity. If difficulties and disputes respecting doctrinal matters arisein any of the churcbes, the de- cision is referred to those whom Christ has ap- pointed o act in such matters, SUCH 18 THE PICTURE Which history gives us of the primitive church efore the Scriptures were written. Then St. Matthew wrote his gospel. Years aiter the other gospels followed. The art of printing was unknown. One or two copies of them were to be found in the principal cities. Passages from them were read on Sundavs and explained to the faithful. They were ediiying 254 {nstructive, Obscure and dlmoalt passages were interpreted by means of the doctrines al- ready existing and taught in the church. The Scriptures themseives were subject to e rule of faith existing priorjto them, viz.: to the suthority of the church, to the voice of the great Christian community which has & com- plete organization and over whose dootrinal decisions the Spirit of Truth was watching, Did error arise? Did misunderstanding occur? What course was o be adopted? What seems as most likely to have taken place? The gen- eral sense decided against the particular; the sense slready received inst the one newl; e community against the indi. other words the church interpreted the Scriptures. The church is the m‘/ythic;l body of the Savior, the spouse of Christ. the pillar and ground of truth. In her Christlives. Sheis to preserve pure and unchanged the faith commitied to her care. Itwas given to her long before she received the Scrictures. She acknowledges them to be inspired communica- tions of the Holy Ghost, containing the faith she had taught before they were written. They of necessily must agree on all points ‘with her teachings. E SHE 18 JUDGE IN MATTERS OF FAITH, The authority of the church is the supreme rule of faith and to it the interpretation of the Scriptures is subm itted. *L would not believe the gospel,” says St. Augustine, “unless the authority.of the Catholic churech moved me to it.” The infallible authority of the church is therejore the fundamental principle 6f Cath- olic theology. The Bible is infallible in the sense that it contains no error. But the Bible is a dead word. It cannot explain the mean- ing that it contains. It cannot interpret itself. And for this reason, that our faith mlg be firm and unchangeable, we acknowledge the neces- qu of an authority superior to that of any individual vested with power, not human, but coming from God, to teach man the truth in all its purity, t0 teach the same truth in all ages and to all classes. An1 this power is the church. This doctrine is based on a most rational ground. It1sdeduced from the Very nature of the church of Christ, Unity of faith is a note of the true church, They are to be brought home to | ed to the truth, bearts were moved, as the | And as 8t. | Our'Lord came to bear testimony to the truth. He embodied that truth in a society which is his church. And as that truth is one, the church must also be one. And as that truth was to be brought to the knowledge of all men, the church, which is its guardian, must have its character of oneness and universality. From this it follows: This oneness and iden- tity of proof is preserved for the human race only in the Catholic system by the principle of authority. Without this principie the church wouid have ceased to exist before the close of the first century; without it scarcely a vestige of divine truth would exist at the present day. ‘The church acted on this prineipie from the very beginning of her history. * THE FIRST HERETICS. The first heretics who opposed the Christian society quoted Scripture in defense of their doctrine, doctrines which all Christians of the present day admit to be not only essentially repugnant to Chrstianity, but destructive to civil society. Yet tney supported their system by Scripture texts. What seems to us in oppo- sition to the Scripture was, according to them, founded on Seripture. Did the fathers of the church bring a certain passage to confute them, they proposed an- other. Was a learned explanation given against them, they had one in reply. Men stood against man, the Scripture on both sides. What was to be done in the case—or rather what was done? Did the chureh of the second cen(ury{llce(he Scriptures in the hands of the faithful that !hef might discover the | truth? DId she proclaim the prineiple of | private judgment? By no means. She told ihem that above the letter of the Scripture | there was a higher rule of faith—the ll\'lns | word, the common faith of the church hande | down irom the beginning, with which Serip- | ture must agree and be interpreted in con- | | formity with it; that it washers to decide when disputes arose, and at her decision all doubts were to cease. THE CHURCH DECIDES. After tne Gnostic sects had disappeared new sects arose. Their adherents marshaled texts | of Seriptures with the same easo and dexterity | as the Gnostics had done in the preceding | century. Indue time the church comes forth | trom her silence and decides. And as certuries g0 by the same manner of proceeding Is re- | peated. Every form of doetrine is propounded. | Every article of Christian faith is in turn rejected. If some maintain that as there ‘is but one nature in_the Trinity so there can be but one )i;ermn, othersare found who maintain that as there are thtee persons so there must be three natnres. 1f some assert thet eternal life can be gained without supernatural grace, others are found who assert that grace alone is sufficient and that man’s iree will has no art in the work of salvation. If some main- 1ain the eternity of the pains of hell, others de- clare that they are but temporary. Now all sects, from the Gnostics to those whose origin is of yesterday, hold the Bible to be the sole rule of faith, not, indeed, as it is interpreted by the competent tribunal of the Christian church, but by the private judgment of the individual. That there is & radical defect in a system which has produced such results, that such a system is not ealculated to-preserve the unity of Christian {faith, but rather.to produce dis- sensions among Christian people, no one can deny. Such a system necessarily tends to create in the intellect uncertainty respecting the most important truths of the Christian order, and .is incapabie of uniting in one Christian society all the members of the human family who were to be the one fold,and of which Christ was to be the chief shepherd. CHRIST, THE SAVIOR OF 1HE WORLD, Never laid an injunction on his followers that his teachings should be committed to wrmui. During the years of his public ministry he al- ways taught orally. When he commissioned his apostles to make his teachings known to ell men it was in these word: 'Go and teach nations whatsoever I e commanded you.” By the preaching of the word was di- vine faith to be produced. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”’— Rom. x:17. = Of the apostles five only are known to have written—St. Matthew, St. John, St. Peter, St. | James and St. Jude. The greater portion of | the New Testament was written by those who | did not belong to the tolic college. Even | of the five apostles who wrote, three, St. Peter, 8t. James and St. Jude, have leit usbuta few short letters written to Rnrflcnlel’ churches, not in obedience to any divine command, hut urged thereto by special and local reasons. If | our Lord had left such a command, would it | not have been very proper, yea, most neces- Ty, that his followers should have given the | world a complete_exposition of all the doc- | trines which Christians should believe? | Wouid it not seem proper thatthey should have come to some understanding among themselves, and in one gospel, or in one epis- tle addressed to the whole church have enu- merated all the articles of faith upon which the Christian system is founded? . NOT PREMEDITATED. But such a course seems to have been far from their thoughts. If we examine care- fully the four gospels we find no mention, or even intimation, of ahy premeditated plan. They seem to be anxious to give the faithful churches and atthe request of the faithful of them a few general ontlines of our Lord’s life and actions. St. John, called the beloved -:Fostle, who had rested on the bosom of his | Master, and_who, from his close companion- ship with him, might seem to have imbibed more fully than the other apostles the secrets of his sacred heart, mentions comparatively | but few detalls of our Lord’s life and closes his gospel with the avowal that he had not given a complete narrative of it. “But there | ere also many other things which Jesusdid; | which, if they were written every one, the world itself, I think, would not be able to con- tain the books that should be written.” St. Luke, in the Acts of the Apostles, relates that during the forty days which intervened be. tween our Lord’s resurrection and ascension, “He appeared to his apostles and spoke ¢f the kingdom of God.” Of how much interest, yea, of how much im- portance to mankind, that they should know what our Lord had deigned to communicate to his apostles respecting the kingdom of God. But, with the bare mention of the fact, the | subject is dismissed by the inspired writer. | What is true of the four gospels is equally true of the other writings of the New Testament. They &l suppose a Christian society, with a de- | fined form of government, with a teaching | pomer and with an authority to impose belief n the truths committed to its keeping. St. Luke, in his Acts of the Apostles, is mainly oc- cupied in chronicling the labors of St. Paul, and mentions but rarely those of St. Peter, who was recognized by all as the head of the church. The epistles of 8t. Faul do not bear meghlractero acomplete exposition of divine th, | NOT INTENDED FOR PUBLICATION, Theéy were not intended to be published. In some of them he admits their incompleteness and expresses his intention of supplementing them on some future occasion by oral teach- ing. 1f the Holy Ecflgtnreu form the sole rule of | faith they would have been complete and ‘would have been written so clenrldy that even the dullest might, without any difficulty, ap- prehend their meaning. Butsuch is not the case. The Scriptures are difficult to under- | stand. Without the authority of the church | which explains them no passage of them but can be made to bear several interpretations. Do not the many sects into which Protestant- ism is diyided bear testimony of the fact? Do pot all of them quote Scripture in their bebali? Do not all found their teachings on one or other text? A learned Germen writersays that the Bible is more “difficult to understand than the works of Homer, Thucydides or Polybius, and requires a knowledge of Hebrew, Syriac, Greek and Latin, as well as a knowledge of history, geography and even of natural sci- ences.” ‘The most learned commentators, after years of study nnd research, do not agree among themselves respecting the meaning of the most important passages of the New Testament, Within flhg ears after the rise of the Re- formation, 05 different Interpretations were given of the four words, “This is my body.” A similar diversity of interpretation may be found concerning every other important text. 10GIC OF THE DIFFERENCE. And if such is the difference of opinion among the learned, how are the uneducated, ‘who form the majority of mankind, who have neither the leisyre mor the capabilities for such studies, to a¢quire a knowledge of what our Lord taught? . St. Peter, writing of the epistles of St. Panl, says: ‘“As also our most dear brother Paul, ac- | cording to the wisdom given him,bath’ written to you, as also in all his epistles spelkil;{ in them of these things, in which are some things bard to be understood, which the unlearnea and unstable wrest, as also the other Scrip- tures, to their own perdition.” Then, again, what books are inspired and be- long to the Scriptures ¢can be determined, not from the Scriptures themselves, but solely by the authority of the church. During the first 300 years of her existence the of Beripture, for instance: The Gos- 1 of the Twelve Apostles, the acts of St. Paul, t. Thecla, etc. They were finally rejected as not inspired. That the books that we have at present bear the name of the Holy-Serl and are to be considered as inspired, rests solely on the decision of the church, 8o that in the last instance faith comes from the author- ity of the church. A FEW PACTS. Let me give you a few facts to show you how careful the church,is to have the Scripture transiated into the language spoken by her ohildren. I. Latin Bibles: Dr. Maitland, the learned Protestant essayist on “The Dark Ages,” when refuting d’Aubigne’s absurd statement that the Bible was ‘‘an_unknown book” before Luther’s dtwovor&ol & copy in his monastery, saye: “To say nothing of partsof the Bible, or of books whose place is uncertain, we know of at least tweniy different editions of the whoie Latin Bible printed in Germany only before Luther was born.” In addition to these “before Luther was born the Bible had been printed in Rome, Naples, Florence and Placen- z8, and Venice alone had furnished - eleven editions. No doubt,” he adds, ‘‘we should be within the truth if we were to say that beside the multicude of MaRUSCTipt cOPies Wot yoi Lall- tures, len into disuse the press has issued fifty differ- ent editions of ‘the .whole Lauin’ Bible, fo say nothing of Psalters, New Testaments' and other parts.” (Maitland’s *‘Dark Ages,’ P 460.) This estimate is, very far within the truth.” Reuss, a leading Ration- alist of Germany, says that “no book was s0 frequently pubifshed immediately after the first invention of printing s the Latin Bible, more than 100 editions of it being struck o before the year 1520 (Ed Reuss “Die Ge- schichte der Heiligen Schriften, N. T.,” Bruns- ek, 1853, p. 458.) Hain in his “Repertorium Bibhiographicum,” printed &t Tubingen, reck- onsconsecutively ninety-eieht distinct editions before the year 1500, independently of twelve other editions which, together with_the Latin text, presented the (lossa Ordinaris or the Postillas of Lyranus. From the year 1475, \hen the first Venetian edition appeared. to the close of the century that city yielded no fewer than twento-two complete editions of the Latin Bible besides some others with the notes ()See “Irish Ecclesiastical Record,” GERMAN BIBLES. II. German Bibles: The first German printed Bible, bearing the arms of Frederick 11, issued from the Mentz press about the year 1462. Another version appeared in 1466, iwo copies of which are still preserved in the Senatorial library at Leipsic. Other versions were published {n rapid succession. They ap- Pearod as follows: Ay Mayence, in the year 1467; at Nuremberg, in 1477, 1493, 1490 and 15185 at Augsburg, in 1477, 1480, 1483, 1487, 1490, 1494, 1507, 1518 and 1524; at Stras- bure! in 1485. 72, Faust’s edition was printed in Seckendorf speaks of three other dis- tinct versions of the German Bible, printed at Wittenberg in 1470, 1483 and 1400, (“Seck- end. Comment. in Luth—,” Lib. 1, Séc. 51.) Versions in other dialects appeared at Lubeck in 1494, at Halberstadt in 1523, at {ghoene between 1470 and 1480, at Delft in 1477, at Gouda in 1479 and at Louvain in 1518, (See Panzer's list of all the Bibles printed in old German, Nuremberg, 1774, and the “New History of Catholic German Bibles,” Nuremberg, 1784.) Luther's Bible, it may,be noted, was not completed until 1530, On the question of German Bibles an Eng- lish %nwr. speaking of the ‘list of Bibles in the Caxton exhibfuon" (South Kensington, 1877), published by H. Stevens, says: *This catalogue will be very useful for oné thing, at any rate, as_disproving the popular lie about many s{mrioul writings were introduced into Luther’s finding the Bible for the first time at Erfurt, at 1509." Not only are there many edi- tions of the Latin Vulgate long anterior 10 that time, but there were actually nine German editions of the Bible in the Caxton exhibition earlier than 1443, the year of Luther's birth, and at least three more before the end of the century.” T { ITALIAN BIBLES. i o . Italian Bibles: Three editions of the Holy Bible in the Itallan tongue appeared in the ‘year 1471—one being a translation by Nicholas Malermi, a Camaldese monk, and two others by writers of the fourteenth cen- tury. No fewer than eleven complete editions of these several versions appeared before the year 1500, and were reprinted eight times more before the year 1567, with the express rmission of the ‘“holy office.” More than orty editions are reckoned before the appear- ance of the first Protestant version in Italian. An entirely new translation was made by ed in 1546. Another, by Bruccioli of Venice, in 1582, from which date to 1572 twelve edi- tions of this version appeared; but, though re- markable for its Tusean dialect, it was in- accurate in many passages, and for this reason was condemned by the ecclesiastical authori- ties. The first Protestant Italian Bible was printed at Geneva in 1562, and was little more, be it observed in passing, than a reprint of Bruccioli’s version. 5 SPANISH BIBLES. IV. Spanish Bibles: In S‘fnin the whole Bible, whieh had been translated into the vernacular tongue by Boniface Ferrier in 1405, was print- ed in 1478, and reprinted in 1515, with the formal consent of the 8panish Inquisition, In 1512 the Gospels and Epistles were transiated by Ambrosio Montesma, and this work was re- published at Antwerp in 1544, at Barcelona in 1601 and 1608,and at Madrid in 1603 and 1615, Garranza, the celebrated Archbishop of Toledo, says in the prologue to his ““Commen- taries”: ‘‘Before the heresies of Luther ap- peared I do not know that the Holy Scriptures in the vulgar tongue were anywhere forbidden. In Spain the Bible was translated into it by order of the Catholic sovereigns at the time ‘when the Moors and Jews were allowed to live among the Christians according to their own 1aw.” He then proceeds to show why the indiscrim- inate circulation—from which so much evil re- sulted—of the. same was subjequently prohib- 1ted in Spain. (See Balmez on “European Civil- ization,” Ch. 36, Eng. Trans., p. 192.) FRENCH BIBLES. V. French Bibles: A French trans the New Testament b§‘ two Augustinian friars. Julian MacHo and Pierre Farget, was pub- lished at Lyons in 1478. A copy of this edi- tion is still preserved in the publie library at ic. (Reusse, %44 ) The version of De Moulins appeared Soon afterward, the best edition of which, carefully reyised by Jean de Rely, was published in Paris under the auspices of Charles VIIIin 1487. It passed-through fourteen other edi- tions in Paris and Lyons alone before the year 1546. Menaud’s version was published in 1484, and that of James Lé PFevre in 1512. This last, corrected by Louvain divines, be- came so popular that it passed through more than forty editions before the year 1700. An- other French Catholic translation, by Nicholas de Leause, was printed at Antwerp in 1534. tion of Neafchatel in 1535. OTHER VERSIONS. VI. Other versions: Amoni_ these may be mentioned particularly the Flemish transla- tion made by Jacobus Moreland; eir. A. D. 1210, which was printed at Cologne in 1475, snd passed through seven editions before the yeer 1530, and of which the Antwerp edition was republished elght times in the space of seventeen years; and the Flfmish transla- tions of the New Testament by Cornelius Ken- drick, 1624, of which ten editions were pub- lished at Antwerp alone within thirty years. A Bobemian version was published at Prague in 1488; at Cutra in 1498; and at Venice in 1506 and 1511. A Slavonian was printed at Cracow, and an Ethiopic Bible wes issued at Rome in 1548, Complete lists of the various Catholic trans- lations of the Bitle will be found in Le Lon2g's ““Bibljotheca Sacra,” two vols. fol., Paris, 1723; and in the “Bibllotheque Curieuse” of the Calvinist writer, David Clement, nine vols., 4to, Gottingen, 1750. The reader may also be referred to the “Dub- lin Review’’ (Vol 1.) and the “Irish Ecclesias- tical Record” (Vol. 1). A PALSEHOOD EXPOSED. You bave all heard how during 1500 years the Catholic Church kept the Scriptures from the knowledge of her children, until providen- tially Luther discovered a copy of the Bible chained to the wall of his monastery in Erfurt, how he broke the chains which bound it, and read for the first time the pure, unadulterated word of God. “D'Aubigne’s History of the Reformation,” & work widely circulated and accepted by the majority of non-Catholic read- ers as an authority on ‘all matters pertaining to the Protestant ‘Reformation, puts it as an histerical fact that Luther, having had the ad- vantage of ‘a university education, did not know there was such s thing as a Bible until he made this astounding discovery. Dr. Maitland, in nis work, “The Dark Ages,” ex- posed. the falsehood, yet it lives on_as one 0{1 zh; stock objections against the Catholic church. 1 quote from Dr. Maitland: “To say nothing of parts of the Bible or of books whose place is uncertain we know of at least twenty different editjons of the whole Latin Bible printed in Germany before Luther was born. These had issued from Augsburg, Strasburg, Cologne,Ulm, Mentg (2), Basle (4), Nuremberg (10), and were dispersed throughout Ge\‘mlnibeforc Luther was born. And I'may add that before that event there was a printing press at work in the very town of Erfurt years after he issaid to have made nis ‘discovery.’ We find a young man who had received a very liberal educa- tion and who did_hot know what a Bible was, !lmpls because the Bible was unknown in these days. ‘“We can only lament the pitiable ignorance of the writer who could repeatsuch nonsense.” Luther’s edition of the New Testament was in 1622. His edition of a complete Bible was in 1534. The common opinion outside the Catholic church is that this, the first printed - Protestant Bible, was the first printed copy of the Scriptures. g EARLIER THAN LUTHER, Now, if we consult the catalogue of the Brit- ish Museum we find thatit contains twenty- seven Catholic editions of the Bible earlier than Luther’s German translation. This unchaining of the word of God fs claimed as one of the srold glories of the Reformation, and to this more than to an: other cause are its rise and progressattributed. But there never was and there never will be an entire people converted to Christianity by the sole reading of the Seriptures. Individuals may indeed form from them an exalted notion of the Christian system, may entertain a high respect for its teachings, and_then search for that church of which 'the Scriptures speak. whose characteristics' they give, and ask of God the grace to know and follow the truth. But in an ent re people, with respect to deter- mining their religious belief and with respect to inducing them ractice from motives of con ce the mo; y it_inculcates, it can have but little or noeffect. The letter of the gospel is by itself dead and can give uo life unless to live in the great society called the church. The Bible is no doubt the word of God, the book by excellence guarded by the Catholic church, without whose care it Wwould have been lost long before Luther’s time. It is the “Magua Charta” of our moral greatness and religious liberties. In it are containea all the Kflnclp}efl Wwhose apirit must be_ embodied in the character of every man who lays claim to high moral character, and in.the constitu- tion of every conm‘? which makes any preten- sion 1o progress and civilization. & THE LIVING cnvnc;. ut far beyond the desd letter of the Bible is the mighyy poweral the lving church ef Sanctes Marmoschini in 1538 and was reprini- [ The first Protestant version wes printed at ] Christ, in which and through whidh the “truths of Scripture receive their significance aud application. This is the power which in every age bas brought men to the knowledge of the Christian law, which has regenerated the world morally and polit- ieally and has made civilization coterminous Wwith Christianity. +Not the dead words of the gospel placed in the hands of the people, but their meaning and spirit.acting through the church, manifesting themselyes in her sacra- ments, in her liturgy. breathing in her prayers and speaking through those who in the name and -authority of the divine founder of the Christian religion were commissioned to carry the truths of sslvation to evary creature, even to the end of time. It may besaid,in a cerfain sense, to hold the same place in a religious society that a constitution does in a civil so- ciety, In the clyil order the Government and constitution mutually support each other. The one gives life, the other applies it to the various requireménts of those who live beneath its protection. Of what avail would our con- stitution be with all the precious liberties it guarantees, without some form of Government, without some body poliitic to apply them and protect them? It would have no more practi- cal influence on the destinies of mankind than if it never existed. In the same way the Bible and the church support each other. THE CHURCH AND THE BIBLE. The church always looked on the Seriptures, the mind of God revealea in human language, for the spiritusl guidance and comfort of his children, and was anxious in every age that they should find in them instruction and con- golation, ever mindiul of the words of St. Paul: “‘What things were written, were written for | our learning; that through patience and the gom[on of the Scriptures we might have ope.” n one form or another she speaks to her children in every age, as St. Grezorf the Great wrote in his day: “Be very careful, I beseech you, my dear brethren, to meditate on_the Word of God. Do not neglect the divine writ- ings which are as letters sent to us from our Creator. “I beseech you, therefore, to IYBX! ourself to them hereafter with particular affection, and meditate every day ‘on the words of your Creator.” . The great Pontiff Pius VI in 1778 writes to Marteni, Archbishop of Florence, congratula- ting him on his new Italian translation of the Bible and recommends to the universal church the reading of the tuspired yolume. “At & time,” he writes,'‘that a vast number of baa books, which most grossly attack the Catholic religion, are circulated among the un- arned, to the great destruction of souls, you judge exceedinéy well that the faithful should excited to the reading’ of the Holy Scrip- tures. For these are the most abundant sources whieh ou&ht 1o be left open to every one to draw from them purity of morals and of doctrine.” CHERISHED THE SCRIPTURES. The Third Council of Baltimore, in its pas- toral letter io the Catholics of the United States, repeats the admonition, ‘It can hardly be necessary for us to remjna you, beloved brethren, that the most highly valued treasure of every family library and the most frequently and Jovingly made use of should be the Holy Seriptures. We hope that no family can be found among us without a corcect version of the Holy Scriptures.” Thus the church that carries dcwn the the doctrinesand %:‘BMI of her Divine Founder has always cherished the sacred writings of the old and the new dispensation, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit draws out of them those sacred truths of which they are the dep]osnury and applies them to the needs of souls, Her history, from Peter to Gregory, from Gregory to Pius VI, from Pius to Leo X111, is & record of uniailitg loyalty to the revealed Word of God, and of constant effort to bringits inetfélmlble treasures to the knowledge of her ren. ABUSE OF THE BICYCLE Dr. Abrams Says Women Have an Esthetic Right to Wear Pants. es Doctors Who Ride the Bike Advocate the Practice; Those Who Do Not, Oppose It. “The Use and Abuse of the Bicycle” was the topic and Dr. Albert Abrams the speakerat the popular lecture at the Cooper Medical College last evening. Dr. Abrams said: It is apposite on St. Valentine’s eve to talk of the object of one’s love, therefore I think it ap- ropriate t6 taik to lovers of the bicycle. Tom | geed has said that the chief question of the day is, “How to dodge the bicycle.” I have been asked to pronounce the name of the popu- lar means of locomotion, and I replied that it | was harmless. That is my attitude toward the use ot the bicycle. I mean to cure vou of the abuse of the wheel, for only the good Lord can cure of the use of it. Indeed, it is fully appre- ciated that the greatest danger from the bi- cycle is to the pedestrian rather than the rider. Here the lecturer explained that the | proper pronunciation of the mooted word is with the long “y.” Continuing, he said that a generation ago a divine wounld have been excommunicated if he had mounted the wheel. Wheeling is too healthful and too time- saving an exercise' to be made light of, so long as a bicxclm keeps his feet where they belong—on the pedals. Coasting 1s tne perni- cious phase of riding. The policemen Golden Gate Park should not permit the prac- tice. The symposium on “Spinal Meningitis the ult of Cyeling” recently published | proved that the.physicians who ride advocate the practice, and those who walk oppose it. It is a fact, however, that the vibration generated by the exercise is beneficial.. We hear ‘a good deal about the “bicycle face.” Don't trouble about that. It issaid of Anglo-Saxons that they take their pleasures sadly. If a bieyclist’s fece does not wear the smiling vacuity that passes in society for amiability, he looks himself at any rate. The serious expression he wears 18 the reflection of his thoughts about his neighbor who knows not the bicycle. It is well he wears something in these days of dress reform. Dr. Abrams thought the “bicycle foot’’ was an imaginary ili. He continued: Cyeling will make the thin fat and the fat thin, It promotes outdoor exercise, which, hysicians concede, cures half the ills to which Hoaiv-ann: capeolaily. nerxons.flesh ix hats o It 1s a tonic most constitutions need. The popular rest cure is, in most_cases, a misappli- cation of a law of nature. Nervous prostrates need moderate exercise instead of rest. A good rule is to dismount and walk up hill when riding is likely to be irksome, Care in the selection of asaddle in the choice of the right posture will remove the danger of injury to the trame. : 'he bicycle hump is by no means a necessary result of ihe exercise. As well criticise horse- back riding because of the unnatural posture of the jockey in riding. Cyeling may even of benefit in certain cases of heart trouble, as for instance fatty de- generation. And now we come to the absorbing topic of woman and the bicycle. If the new woman comes with a tendency to physical perfection let us accord her a royal weicome. Dr. Roose- velt has disposed of the vexed question in the manner: *“Bicycling is all women sometimes, but not for all women sall the time.” Dr. Abrams claimed that women have not only a historic and hygienic, but esthetic right to wear pants. Referring to the strong remedial effect of :xercue in the open air the professor said: In Chicago, that city of busy men and rest- less women, there are 35,000 persons addicted | receive another road managed by another to_hypodermic injections of opium or other sedatives affected by many wholead a nervons, overwrought life. Yet the testimony of phy- sicians is that the number 1s Leing very muc! reduced through the prevalence of cycling, “Fiends” find that cycling isa better cure for insomnia than opium. ‘The next lecture of the course will be on Friday, the 18th inst., when Dr. Cheney will talk about *‘The Rights of Babies.” —————— Paterson’s Marriage Annulled. The marriage of Robert E. Paterson and Annie B. Paterson has been annulled by Judge Hebbard because the ceremony was agreed to by the plaintiff under duress. He was in jail lorbetu‘izlgthe girl who married.- him, and he ad to choose between the State rison and the nuptial knot. He chose the tter, but he never lived with his wife. He accused her, too, of Smu infidelity, and prayed for beth divorce and annullment, sp as to be sure to get free on the ome if not the other. The couple were married in December, 1894, We Are Polsoned by Air and Water When they contain the germs of malaria. To an- nihilate these and avoid orconquer chills and fever, bilious remittent or dumb pgue, use persistently and regularly Hostetter's Stomach Bitiers, which 8150 remedies dyspepsia, liver trouble, constipa- tion, loss of strength, nervousness, rheumatism and kidney complaint. Appetite and sleep are im- Pproved by this thorough medicinal agent, and the infirmities of age mitigated by it.. A wineglasstul threo imes 2 7, ] A ONE-ENDED' FRANCHISE, Oak-Street Cars Are Suspended Over Almost Half the Line. DETkIMENTAL TO PROPERTY. The People Are Justly Complaining Against the Very High-Handed Proceeding. The Southern Pacific Company of Ken- tucky has a roundabout way of doing things to reach a result that is satisfac- tory to it. In some cases it will go clear | around several blocks to accomplish its | ends. A sample of its methods is visible in the case of the Oak-street cable line, most of which isat the present time lying idle and quiet in full possession of the street. When the franchise for the Oak-street line was granted the road was to run from Howard and Tenth to Market, across Mar- ket to Fell, on Fell to Franklin, then on Franklin to Oak street and out Oak to Stanyan. At the present time, however, the service has been cut off from Tenth and. Howard streets to Fillmore, and the unused line confronts the residents of Oak street with the fact that their property is diminishingn | value, owing to the removal of the ser- vice. Frank J. Sullivan, one of the largest | property-owners in the district, has been interesting himself in the matter for some time, but has been unable to get anything like satisfaction from the company. *‘When the cars were taken off, some three months ago,” said Mr. Sullivan yesterday, “'I took it upon myself to see what could be done toward re-establishing some sort of service for residents and property-holders who had interests along the line. Three other gentlemen, Judge Goewy, M. P. Jones and Michael Maegher, and myself, all having property in that section, went before Mr. Vining, the pen- eral manager of the Market-street Railway Company, and put the matter before him, urging that the stopping of the line on even a portion of the street was working considerable injury to the property-owners | and residents. We argued that the com- | pany could not abandon a portion of its | franichise without abandoning all of it. It | seems, though, that such conditions can prevail without any particular discomfort to the company. 2 “He showed us the statement of earnings of the Oak-street line, which was some- thing like $190 a day, while the Market and Mission lines earned over $900. Mr. Vining said the small returns were what occasioned the change, but promisad to give the matter immediate attention upon the return of Mr. Crocker from the East. | From the conversation held at that time I, in company with my associates, left under the impression that it would be agreeable to the company to run an electric | line out Oak and back to Market via Page street. This would have heen satisfactory to the people out that way, and when Mnr. Crocker returned I wrote him a letter as follows: JUNE 17, 1895. Charles F. Crocker Esq., City—DEAR SIR: A few weeks ago several owners of Oak-street prop- erty, including myself, called on Mr. Vining to ascertain definitely what your company pro- pose to_do with the Oak-street eanle road. We Teferred toits abandonment of the iine between Fillmore and Franklin streets. We pointed out to Mr. Vining the great injury_that would result to all property values, and estimated the same to be at least 60 per cent. We stated thatoné Iine on Oak street and another on Page street, tapping the Marketand Mission street roads, would be satisiactory to ail own- ers and residents of the district. He promised 10 give us a final decision when you returned. On behalf of all parties interested, I trust that you will decide the proposition as soon as possible. Asit is, every one is at sea and property values suffer. Yours very truly, s FRANK SULLIVAN. “Mr. Crocker replied to this letter imme- diately and said that the matter would have to be placed before the directors. Nothing has been done since then and we are waiting to see what the next move will be. E “The way things stand now the fran- chise should be revoked, as they do not live up to its letter. The street is in such a condition that no one else would ecare to put a road on it, as the residents desire, owing to the fact that bat a portion of it has been abandoned. Itis in no shape to company and it simply stands to-day in the clutches of the corporation. “When property-buyers invested money in the ne{fhborhoad of Oak streetit was pretty well understood that the streetcar service was to prevail, but because the company does not ‘coin a small fortune | there it has been taken away and the peo- vle are suffering considerable loss and in- convenience from it.” Henry Mayer, the Sutter-street tailor, discussed the matter in the same way and | said that an injunction should be put on the electric road running from Fifimere out to the rnrk and that the entire fran- chise should be canceled immediately. A meeting is soon to be called for the pur- pose of getting at the bottom of the deal, and property-holders will be called upon to sign a protest against the migh-handed methods of the Market-street Company. THE TRAMPS SCATTER. Efficient Device of the Associated Chari- ties for the Abating of & Nulsance. The class of mendicants known as *‘dis- pensary beats” received some considera. tion at yesterday’s meeting of the Asso- ciated Charities. B. P. Flint, the zegis- trar, presided, and among those present were the Rev. W. G. Elliott, Mrs. M. E. Kincaid, Miss Vireinia Fitch, Captain Eldridge, Osgood Putnam and §. M. Levy. It was remarked that for a long time past persons have been receiving free medical treatment at- the Cooper Medical College and the San Francisco Polyclinic, awvho were in no proper sense objects of eharity. One of the ladies present said she had heard of people having proverty to the extent of $50,000 and over, who scrupled not to play the pauper when unwell in order to get free treatment. The surgeons at-length complained of the extra work, and both institutions have arranged with the Associated Charities to investigate the financial standing of applicants for relief. Mr. Flint reported that the visits of tramps to the society’s rooms had fallen off to a notaple degree. The society, it appears, has opened” an extensive wood- yard, wherein healthy male applicants for aid are sure of unlimited ax and hatcket practice, being ?id {or their work in meal and lodging tickets, but never in money. This mode of relief seems by no means popular with a Lari: proportion of the society’s would-be neficiaries, who in consequence have no further use for the Associated Charities. Mr. Flint, in fact, said the waodiard Wwas in a languishing condition, the harvest being great, but the laborers few. At all events the few tramps who apply to the society for relief are in every case new arnvals, and on being directed to the woodyard vanish, for the most part, never to return. S_evanty-on_e cases of destitution were relieved ‘during tne week, forty-seven of which were new.. The proportion of sick applicants was unusually large, sixteen J;urving cases coming byetorerfim' meeting. ——————— Claims of a Receiver. Thomas K. Statler has begun suit in the United States Circuit Court against the ade- | of soli funct California National K, o s, Sktiop Bank, setting forth NEW TO-DAY, POWER IN A NUT SHELL! Governments,‘Physlcians, Sci=- entists Interested in an African Nut. THE ESSENCE OF dicine Used by Troops in = ro!;:renl‘::ng. by Athletes and by anvalids. . In American army circles qmch interest haIs been exhibited recently in the qlfi]]l- ties of an African nut, known bomn_xm y as sterenlia, products of wmgh are Lnofin in this country as Kolaira. This nut has attracted wide attention in the scientific world on account of its remarkable tm{;;c and sustaining powers, Which ena ke those who use it to perform physical tasks otherwise impossible. Already the Mmlles- of France and Germany have u: d the product and have found that its e_xflxja- ordinary qualities have made it ant indis- pensable adjunct to their e(i’qnpmen e The reports concerning this nut;m i health-g1ving qualities by the most amcu; of German and French physicians an scientists, together with the success scotrled in the use by the athletes of Yaleand other colleges, are forerunners which herald 1tls introductior as immediate and general. Certainly if these recent reports are ltru;t: worthy the success of the article is already ured. as;ts value to soldiers and athletes results from the fact that it.prevents fatigue and increases muscular power, endbling the user to perform hard and painful tasks ith ease. “‘{:u erintendent Morgan of the Letter Carriers’ Division of the New York Post- office has recommended a- thorough test of the extract by the army of letter carriers of the New ’i’ork Postoffice. In accord- ance with Superintendent Morgan’s sug- estion John M. Parsons, president of the etter Carriers’ Association, has con- ducted tests which have been attendgd with the most satisfactory results, I ENERGY. | have tried Vino-Kolafra,” eaid Mr. Mor- gan, “and have found it to be undoubtedly a good thing. We have letter carriers in the New York Postoffice engaged in collec- tion work who have to make eight trips a day of sixty blocks per trip, or twenty-four niles caily. These carriers have more arduous work to do at the present time than soldiers, and, therefore, Vino-Kolafra is just the thing for them. Itis gsgecmlly valuable for letter carriers with long routes, on account of its sustaining prop- erties, but of course it is of value to all who do any hard work.” s K Kolafra appears to be a non-intoxicatine stimulant, which differs from other stimu- lants in that it adds at once to the sum total of nervous force available for use, in- stead of merely enabling the immediate (and perhaps wasteful) expenditure of energy drawn in advance from what will be needful for the requirements of to- morrow. In other words, no reaction at- tends its use. Itis a cash deposit, not a discounted draft. 3 In the form of Vino-Kolafra it conserves, not merely shifts energy; it becomes a fly- wheel to the human engine, restraining the excessive action of the superexcited and bringing the sluggish up toanormal speed. For this reason the medical journals are recommending its use to the weak, ex- hausted and convalescent. In addition, it acts as a prompt antidote to the effects of alconol and satisfies the craving for liquor and for morphine, etc., without causing any njurious effects. The same qualities render it useful to the invalid. The uses of Vino-Kolafra, the most convenient form of preparing the nut in order to preserve its full stimulant and tonic value, are indicated by the following: The New England Medical Monthly states editorially: “The medical pro- fession in these sections has lonc recog- nized in it a great aid in performing feats of labor, tests of strength, or sustaining life in disease. Aside from its value to the brain and muscle worker it is invaluablein the sick room; it helps tide over the crises 1n disease and sustain the strength of a disease-exhausted system. In shocks due to accidents, traumatism, operations, syn- cope or fright, it is of great value, and will prove the surgeon’s friend, as well as the physician’s. In nervous prostration and nervous_irritation it is of inestimable value, It is efficacicus in cardiac affec- tions, especially smoker’s heart. The Quarterly Therapeutic Review says of the sterculia (botanical name) nut: Tt is said to remove directly the stupidity and unsteadinessof drunkenness, Itisan excellent nerve tonic and will enable a man to go without food and support great fatigue for twenty-four hours or more. It is a wonderful tonic and stimulant. When used regularly sleep is sound and restful, while a feeling of brightness and activity is prevalent during the waking hours. It is a cardiac and cerebral stimulant. In migraine and nervous headaches it has been repeatedly proved to be beneficial. Its results in the treatment of neuras- thenia, diarrhez and seasickness have been good. In torpidity of the liver it excites that organ and accelerates the flow of bile. In indigestion it promotes alimentation by dissolving the mucous clots and remov- ing debris from the 1intestines. In short, it is the safety valve of bodily mechanism, preservingand restoring energy and utiliz- ing tissue waste. In this respect it differs vastly from all other beverages and stimu- lants in that it preseryes latent energy, ob- tamning its powers by utilizing the waste tissue matter.” Dr. E. B. Smith, president of the Wayne County Medical Society, says: “It aug- ments the secretion of the digestive fluias. 1t helps in overcoming the indigestion common to drunkards, and is of excep- tional value in delirium tremens.” Professor Edouard Heckel of the Paris Medical Faculty says: “This seed is an intestinal tonic without parallel. It is the greatest gastro-intestinal tonic that the therapeutic arsenal can place in the hands of its practitioners.” e recommends its use in tubercular diarrhea, where there is intestinal ulceration. General Alexander Stephen, British in comparing the Consul at Bahia, Brazi physical merits of the West African negro and the Brazilian negro, says that the great powers of endurance and strength of the African, exhibited in lifting and trans- vorting heavy loads, passes all efforts on the part of the Brazilian. For instance, where it takes eight Brazilian negroes to carry a load with difficulty four African porters carry it cheerfully, singing as they ascend a hill and chanting the whole time as they trudge along. As the discharging of vessels is paid for by weight, the i(ri. can gang, which has less hands, earns twice as much, and while they hoard and save the Brazilian porter lives from hand to mouth, spending his money for rum, in the vain belief that it fits him for his laborious task, while the African invests his spending allowance in seeds of the sterculia, which are not intoxicating, act as a nutritive, quench thirst an pro- duce vigor and freshness. Dr. Cyrus Edson, formerly president of the New York Health Board, in the New York Tribune of October 26, says of this remedy: “Ihaveusedit in my practice for over a year and a half to bridge over that frequent gap in treatment which is met with in cases of prolonged illness. Of all the stimulants known it is the most powerful, and is at the same time abso- lutely harmless. In cases of acute dys- pepsia, in convalescence, etc., it has beeu worth its weight in gold.” In the same article Dr. J. G. Johnson, a prominent Brookiyn Heights physician, says: “I have been familiar with the vir- tues of this nut for some time, but it is only recently that I have been able to pro- cure a reliable preparation of it. It is known as Vino-Kolafra, and is manufac- tured with great care by the firm of John- son & Johnson of No. 92 William street, New York. It gives prompt and perma- nent strength to the body, is an aid to digestion and a counteractive to malaria. Itis a powerful nerve tonic and sedative; especially asa tonic for men past middle life it is without an equal.” Johnson & Johnson are the chemists who furnished the experimental samples for the use of the army and navy authori- ties. They have bestowed great attention upon their Vino-Kolafra, now being so largely sold through druggists in all parts of the country,