John Andrew de Bossi, Bishop of Aleria, and was dedicated to Pope Paul II. The printers were Conrad Sweynheym and Arnold Paunartz. Their press was in the princely palace of the illustrious Massimi family. Five hundred and fifty copies were struck off in the edition; and on the death of Pope Paul II., his successor, Sixtus IV., was its zealous patron.

The Venice edition of 1495 is also of great critical importance. The religious superior of the Camaldolese of Brescia superintended its publication. It consisted of four volumes in folio, and presented, together with the Latin Bible, the gloss and notes of Lyranus. This great work was dedicated to Cardinal Francis Piccolomini, who was soon after raised to the popedom under the name of Pius III. From its preface we learn that not only the best preceding editions, but also five ancient manuscripts, were made use of in preparing this edition.

Still more accurate, however, is another edition, published without name of place in 1476, but which Pauzer and Vercellone refer to the city of Vicenza. Its editor was the learned Leonard Acate. He first sought out with great care the most ancient and correct manuscript of the Latin text, and then he devoted all his care to have it accurately printed. In a short preface, he merely says: "Lector, quisquis es, si Christiane sentis, non te pigeat hoc opus sanctissimum ... Codex practiosissimus in lucem emendatissimus venit"; and it must be confessed that this statement was not made without reason, since, notwithstanding all the critical researches of the last four centuries, that edition still holds its place amongst the most accurate and most conformable to the ancient Latin text.

4. Thus, then, in regard to the Latin text at least, Lord Clancarty must admit that the Church in the ante-Reformation period was not negligent in disseminating the Bible. And here we must remark that Latin was the literary language of that age, and that whosoever could read at all, was sure to be versed in the Latin tongue. How justly, then, does Mr. Hallam, when speaking of this period, state: "There is no reason to suspect any intention in the Church of Rome to deprive the laity of the scriptures"; 3 and how truthful are the words of another eloquent man: "The Catholic Church is not the enemy of the Bible. I affirm it, and I shall prove it.... She has been the guardian of its purity and the preserver of its existence through the chances and changes of eighteen hundred years. In the gloom of the Catacombs, and the splendour of the Basilica, she cherished that holy book with equal reverence. When she saw the seed of Christianity sown in the blood of the martyrs, and braved the persecutions of the despots of the world, and when those despots bowed before the symbol of Redemption, and she was lifted from her earthly humbleness, and reared her mitred head in courts and palaces, it was equally the object of her unceasing care. She gathered together its scattered fragments, separated the true word of inspiration from the spurious inventions of presumptuous and deceitful men, made its teachings and its history familiar to her children in her noble liturgy; translated it into the language which was familiar to every one who could read at all; asserted its divine authority in her councils; maintained its canonical authority against all gainsayers; and transmitted it from age to age as the precious inheritance of the Christian people. The saints whom she most reveres were its sagest commentators; and of the army of her white-robed martyrs whom she still commemorates on her festal days, there are many who reached their immortal crowns by refusing on the rack and in the flames to desecrate or deny the holy book of God". 4 And yet, if we are to believe Lord Clancarty, it is precisely this holy Church that is opposed to science and to the dissemination of the written word of God!

5. But perhaps Catholics were in dread at least of the original text of the sacred Scriptures, and placed some obstacles in the way of its diffusion. Here, again, we appeal to the testimony of facts. The only editions of the Old Testament which appeared in the original Hebrew language in the fifteenth century, were all printed beneath the shadow of the Inquisition in the Catholic land of Italy. Soncino, near Cremona, in 1488, Naples in 1491, and Brescia in 1494, are the cities to which belongs the glory of thus giving birth to the first editions of the Hebrew text. Bologna, too, was privileged in being the first to publish the Chaldaic paraphrase of Onkelos: its edition appeared in 1482; and for the next two editions, which appeared towards the close of the century, we are indebted to Catholic Portugal. 5

As to the Greek text of the New Testament, its first edition was printed in 1514, under the auspices of an illustrious Spanish Franciscan, Cardinal Ximenes. Though the New Testament is only the fifth volume in the great Polyglot of Ximenes, yet it was first of all in order of time, its text being completed on the 10th of January, 1514. Five other editions followed in quick succession, in 1516, 1519, 1522, 1527, 1535, all bearing the name of Erasmus. 6 The only portions of the Greek text of the Old Testament that were printed in the fifteenth century all had their origin in Italy, and bear the date of 1481, 1486, and 1498.

6. It is time, however, to refer to the first great Biblical Polyglots—those vast repertories devised by master minds, and which, presenting in parallel columns the original texts of the Old and New Testaments, together with the various ancient versions, are an incalculable aid in the study of Biblical criticism and in the interpretation of the sacred books. Even in the publication of these great works Protestants only came to glean where the Catholics had already reaped an abundant harvest. It was the privilege of the illustrious order of St. Dominick to give to the world the first Polyglot edition of a portion of the sacred text. It was entitled "Psalterium Hebraicum Graecum, Arabicum, et Chaldaicum cum tribus Latinis Interpretationibus et Glossis". From the dedication we learn that its author was "Fr. Augustinus Giustiniani ord. Praed. Episcopus Nabiensis", who inscribes this fruit of his learned labours to the reigning pontiff, Leo X. It was in the Giustiniani palace in Genoa that this Polyglot was printed, under the immediate superintendence of the bishop himself, and from the same city he addressed its dedication to Pope Leo on 1st August, 1516. An extract from this dedicatory letter will best serve to show that the sentiments of the Catholic bishops of the ante-Reformation period were far different from what the Earl of Clancarty would wish us to suppose. It thus begins:

"Scio Pater Beatissime, perlatum ad aures tuas jam diu laborasse nos quo utrumque sacrae legis instrumentum quinque praecipuis linguis in unum redactum corpus ederemus: opus nimirum ut meis viribus impar ita nostrae professioni vel maxime congruens. Nihil enim aeque sacerdoti convenit quam sacrarum litterarum expositio et interpretatio.... An vero noster hic labor fructum aliquem sit pariturus in Catholica matre Ecclesia cui ipse digne praesides libuit periculum