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THE LATIN VULGATE. Bishop Ireland's Reply to the Late Lecture of Rev. Mr. Thomas. To the Editor of the Globe. I beg leave to make through your col umns a few remarks upon the lecture of Key. Mr. Thoma6 delivered two weeks ago from the pulpit of St. Paul's church in reference to the Latin vnlgate. I believe the remarks will not be unwel come to a large number of your patrons. The lecture which I propose briefly to re view has been read by many with unusual interest. It was taken not without reason as showing at their best both the lecturer himself and the cause which he had in hand, Protestantism. Mr. Thomas is spoken of among his fellow ministers as being deeply versed in scriptural and his toric lore. The lecture had been in prep aration for nearly two years. Evidently it was intended to be exhaustive of its sub ject. THE PROTESTANTISM OF BEY. MB. THOMAS. The purpose of the lecture, as of all Protestant controversy, is to ; destroy the Catholic position. Protestantism never offers a positive defense of its position —it is essentially nega tive in its nature, a protest, as the name indicates, and nothing more. Before re plying to its anti-Catholic arguments, I will point out the absolute void in religion which opens up for Protestantism from the standpoint adopted by Mr. Thomas in his lecture. Protestantism, as far as a definition of it can be obtained from its universal prac tices and official pronouncements, is a sys tem of revealed religion based exclusively upon the Bible' as its supreme and sole rule of faith. Its vital principles are that the bible contains all God's revealed truth and nothing but his revealed, truth, and that it is the right and privilege of each individual to read and interpret it for him self. This and nothing else is Protestant ism. The sixth of the Anglican articles,to quote but from theoi, s&ys: "Holy scrip ture containeth all things necessary to sal vation, so.that whatsoever is not read there in, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man that it be believed as an article oZ faith, or be thought necessa ry to salvation." At this rate if Protes tantism is to have any ground whatsoever upon which to stand, if it is to possess any value whatsoever for the teaching of truth, the essential reqaisite for it is to have be yond all doublings a Bible, to know ex actly what books and parts of books belong to the Bible, what books and parts of books should be excluded from it. "Without this knowledge, certain and defi nite, no act of Christian faith is possible in Protestantism. Yet this essential knowl edge the admissions made by Mr. Thomas remove from Protestantism. Certain books which he calls "the Apocry pha," must not, he says, be a part of the Old Testament. These books, as I will show further down in my remarks, receive the same authoritative approval as books which he includes in the New Testament. Protestantism is in this manner devoid of any final rule, whereby it]may test the can onicity of scripture, except the rule be indi vidual opinion. But even the Bible with out the "apocrypha," as it has been receiv ed during three centuries by Protestants finds no favor in Mr. Thomas' eyes. Dur ing three centuries Protestantism has not had a substantially correct Bible. "Unfor tunately for the Council of Trent," he says —the King James version was published about the same time"it was held just at the beginning of an era of great discoveries. The time had not come when the church could say of any text with reasonable safe ty, much less with infallibility, 'This edi tion, entire, with all its parts, is sacred and canonical.' " There is no question ■in this assertion,of accideiital.minor mistakes in a version of the Bible, which do not affect the substance of revealed truths; there is question of considerable portions of books. Thus since its inception to the piesent j day, Protestantism has been hugging b s ! God's word, as its sole rule of faith, a Bible containing,* serious and misleading interpolations. Mr. Thomas gives his cordial approval to the omissions from the "received text," made by the late revisers. Some of these omissions are most notable, manifestly affecting as they do, doctrine and morals, for instance the omission of the text of I John, v. 7, where the doctrine of the Trinity is so clearly stated. He won ders that I should have talked of the "Bib lical chaos," into which Protestantism has been thrown by the revisers and then sup porters. Is not the "chaos" patent to the least observant eye? Where is Protest antism, «ud where is the revision of its sole rule of faith to stop? Bad enough that past Protestantism was without com pass or chart; at least present Protestant ism ought to be reliable. But "Christian scholarship" is the controlling power, and "Christian scholarship" outside of the Catholic church is as restless and uncertain as the winds that sweep over the ocean. The chance discovery of a manuscript ou a forgotten shelf in the Vatican library, and of another in a heap of rubbish in a convent of Mount Sinai has suf ficed to make the school to which the revisers have pledged alle giance to recoil in haste from the tradi tional scriptural text, Greek and Latin, which has come down to us from an an tiquity older than any attributed to those manuscriptsand there is no certain proof for the antiquity allowed them— is attested by a general consensus of ancient copies, ancient fathers, ancient versions, in all its varied sources one and the same sub stantially. Upon slender life-cords, indeed, the Bible of the revisers has been left de pendent by Providence —a few manuscripts, written by unknown hands, buried for ages in obscurity, found by mere accident. Nor is this all. Any day, manuscripts may. be discovered, for all we know, that will diner from tha Vatican or the Sinaitio and call loudly for a new revision, agree ing neither with our present revision or our past "Received Text." Who knows what Bible we may have A. D. .2000? Verily the need of a fixed rule of faith ie great ir. Protestantism. We cannot be surprised that Protestants are at sea in matters of religion, that new gos pel teaching is every week dispensed from Protestant pulpits, and that mistiness and doubt hare taken in the Protestant mind the place of faith. . , V r :.v_ If adherence to principle, logical con sistency, has at .ill * meaning. Psotestant ism must suppose as an undoubted fact, that the Bible, whole and entire, was writ ten from the first days of the Christian t era, that the canon of scripture was fro the earliest period fixed and defined, that there was never » doubt possible as to what books and what parts of books consti tuted the inspired, volume. Should facts of history, and the admissions of Protestants themselves be ia contradiction with such supposition, so much the worse for Piot estantism and Protestant consistency. THE BIBLE IN THE CATHOLIC CUUIiCH. The Catholic church is altogether in a different position regarding the Bible. A<j Cardinal Manning says: "We neither derive our religion from the scriptures, nor does it ■ depend upon them. Oar faith was in the world before the New Testament was written. The scripture itself depends for its attes tation upon the witness who teaches us our faith, and that witness is divine. Our faith rests upon an order of divine facts which was already spread throughout the world, when as yet the Gospel of St. John was not written." The Catholic rule of faith is the living church; the scriptures area most sacred and precious gift to her from heaven, but they are not necessary, to her life, or to the fulfilment of her divine mission. It is quite supposable in accordance with . her principles, that the canon of the scriptures was not for a certain period of time fixed be yond a denbt by an infallible, authoritative decree. But, of course, when she does is sne a dogmatic decree regarding the canon of scripture, defining what books and parts of books belong to the canon, or regard ing the authenticity of any , version of the scriptures, the decree as issuing from an infallible teacher, is certain and final. ■ £■?*£ < rHB DECBBE OF THE COUNCIL OF TEENT ON THE OANOH. The thesis of Rev. Mr. Thomas reads: 'The Roman Catholic church in denning concerning the scriptures that the old Latin rulgate edition of the Bible entire with all Its parts, as has been used to be read in the Catholic church is sacred and canonical, has ceased to be a faithful conservator of aoly scripture, has committed herself to ill the mistakes and interpolations of the past, and has bid defiance to Christian scholarship." The thesis is very clearly stated, and nothing is needed, I confess, but the proof of the premises to blow into minute fragments beyond power of re building the citadel of the Catholic church, md to explode forever her dogma of in fallibility. Has he proved . the premises ? Hoc opus, hie labor. The reader who would accept without challenge his apparently plausible statements of history, his render ings of the decrees of Catholic councils »nd Catholic pontiffs might believe proofs had been offered. The temptation, too, would come to him to imagine that the proofs are simply irrefragible as Rev. Mr. rhomaa, confident of victory, rushes through the vocabulary of the language to and words the one stronger than the other, wherewith to stigmatize the old church. 'Ecclesiastical suicide," "blunder of im perious haste and provincial prejudice," •'Alexandrian blunder," "Western ignor ance"—bold expressions of this kind are the condiments of the argument through out the lecture, and ought to have an ef fect. The proofs I will examine. I do not wish to use Mr. Thomas' bold expressions in characterizing them; I will simply say, each one is Mr. Thomas' "ipse dixit," and nothing more. The Council of Trent placed in the canon of holy scripture the books of Baruch, Tobias, Judith, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus, and the First and Second Macchabees. In the Protestant Bible they are relegated among the "Apocrypha." The Catholic chuch claims to be infalli ble. Her position in relation to her dogmatic decrees is this: Unless her claim has been disproved, her decree is the proof of the truth of the subject matter of her definition. Her opponents, if the decree is to be set aside, must bring forward pos itive evidence that she has made a mis take ; negative evidence is of no account. It is quite supposable that before the de cree of the church there would be no evi dence on hand sufficient to establish thy truth of a proposition. Her decree supplies that evidence, the result of her infallibility. Proofs that the proposition is false, ii on hand,would be in order on the part of her opponents, and if pro duced ia sufficient force would no!, onlj disprove her decree, but her claim to in fallibility. • '",".-'' THE ABGUMENTS OF MB. THOMAS. ' Mr. Thomas' arguments against the in spiration of the "Apocrypha," or, as the Catholic church calls them, "The Deutero c&nonical books" of the Old Testament, are either negative in their nature or based on misconception of facts. They were not, he says, in the Hebrew canon of the Jews. This is a mere negative argument. The Hebrew synagogue, if ii did not admit them, did not {ex clude them: it left their right to a place in the canon an open question, as during a long time the right of certain books to a place in the canon of the New Testament was an open question among Christians. The absence of the books from the Hebrew canon is easily explained. The Hebrew language had become a dead lan guage. These books were for the greater part written either in Chaldaic or Greek. The reverence of the Jews of Jerusalem or the old Hebrew prejudiced them against other languages as the recognized channels of divine thought. Again, as Josephus remarks, in those troublesome ages of Israel's history, the succession of prophets who would put upon books the official seal of canonicity was not as clear and exact as it had been in former days. Josephus was far from accounting those books as certainly inspired. "They were not," he said, "accounted worthy of as great faith and authority as other book.?, because the succession of prophets was not clear." Ii» other words, no official dec laration had been made regarding them. 5&:,Ji &."•*•£? Mr. Thomas is .. astray when lie Bays they wore "written after the gift of prophecy had been removed from Israel. Upon what grounds does he fay the gift was removed? losephus merely asserts that the succession of prophets was not clear. Our blessed Lord declares that the gift was continuous in Israel: "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John," Matt. xi:l3. Since John, it has been no less continuous, in the sense of di vine guardianship of the truth. For our Lord left after him an infallible church, the assumption of Mr. Thomas to the contrary notwithstanding. -' The Jews of Alexandria had always placed the Deutero-canonical books among the sacred volumes of the Septuagint. This fact is strong evidence in their favor. A large portion of orthdoox Jews admit ted their inspiration, and moreover their action proves to us that if the \sthers, those of Judea, did not admit them, they did not positively reject them. The Alexandrian Jews sought always ,to live in religions harmony with their brethren of Jerusalem, and would not have contradicted them in a matter so important as the canon of scrip ture. The explanation given by Mr. Thomas why the Alexan drian Jew admitted the books into the canon is v ingenious, to say the least. "The Palestinian Jew believed that inspiration ceased '• * * •*■• ■ while the . Alexandrian Jew believed that inspiration was • not a special illumination belonging to a special period.'* The Alexandrian . Jew in this belief was right, although he doubtless had other reasons than this general belief for admitting: the books into < the • canon. But;; when , - Mr. '(, Thomas thinks that the ,'Latin . translator ,was -V Jed astray, by Alexandrian . influence, because he lived and wrote in Alexandria, he is about as far from the truth as he well can be. He says:t "The connection be tween the two is evident,'when we remem ber that tut vul^ale srigizuUed ia .lic;^.;.- THE ST. PAUL DAILY GLOBE, MONDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 18. 1882 dria. Strange as may seem, it was the city of the Greek Alexander and not the city of he Latin FmnpTi which gave us the fir&t Latin Father and.the first Latin .version of the holy scriptures. * * * When we hear the exalted claims of the Roman vulgate let it be ever remembered that this famous translation came from the Nile." How Mr. Thomas makes this mistake, I cannot understand, unless it be that he was mis led by a word in Smith's dictionary of the Bible, where it is said that the "Itala" originated in Africa. It originated indeed in Africa, bnt far away from Alex andria, in Latin Africa, the province of Carthage, between which and Egypt there was neither community of language er of philosophical thought. In Latin Africa, too, lived the first Latin father, Tertullian. The Feehito or Syrie version is credited by him as settling the question of the canon, and on this account itu prestige in the early Christian church be extols. ''The Peßhito was the Bible of the East, as the old Itala was the Bible of the West." The Peshito was the Bible of the little territory in Asia Minor, where the Syrian language was spoken. The "Bible of the East" was the Greek Septuagint; but as the Septuagint contains the "Apocrypha," Mr. Thomas conveniently drops it out of any position of prominence. Still, as to the Peshito, the very first Syriac translation does not contain the "Apocrypha," because it was a translation from the Hebrew version which did not contain them; indeed, at that time there was no Hebrew copy of these books extant. But it would be a grievous mistake to assert that the Syrian bible did not contain these books. They were trans lated from the Greek and treated alike with the books of the early Peshito. The Syrian Father, St. Ephrein, quotes from them, and, whatever Smith's dictionary may say to the contrary, considers them as genuine scripture. He prefaces his quota tions with the words usually preceding scriptural words "as it's written" —"hs we read in scripture." The old Syriac man uscripts in the Ambrosian library of Milan, in the Vatican library of Rome, in the Archiepiscopal library of Damascus, con tain all the "Apocrypha," and the Syrian church for ages has never raised a question concerning the canonicity of these books. Rev. Mr. Thomas should be chary of praise for the Syriac version. He re jects with all his energy the passage of John v:4 on the pool of Beth- B&ida. But the Syriao version retains the whole passage, and some early Syrian versions, of which manuscripts are extant, did not have the New Testament book* of St. Jade. Second Peter, Second and Third John and the Apecalypse. As to St. Jerome, Mr. Thomas says: "These books he regarded so lightly that he translated only two of them, Judith and Tobit, giving to each a single day." Of course he did not translate the "Apocry pha" as he did the other books of the Old Testament from the Hebrew, for He 1* rew copies of them were not extant —a very good reason why Jerome did not translate them. Tobit and Judith he found in the Chaldaic language, and he translated them, "giving to each one a day"—a measure of time quite sufficient for a man versed, as Je rome, in Biblical languages, and whose working day very likely oonsisted of twenty hours. We must have better evidence than Mr. Thomas has given us against the books in question, before we condemn the Council of Trent and its decree. THE DUETEBO-COCNCIL BOOKS. The real history of the Deutero-canoni cal books is the following. As we have said, they did not exist in the Hebrew ca non.but did in that of the Septuagint. The early Christian church in her synods, through her fathers, in her lectionaries,ad niitted them. There are quotations from them even in the New Testament, if not the exact repetition of words, at least that of the meaning and substance, as is usual in New Testament quotations from the Old. (Compare Sap. vn»36 with Hebr. i: 3; Eccli. xxiv: 29 with John vi: 35; Eccli. xxv; 11 with John m: 7; 1 Mach. n: 39 with Hobr. ii: 34, etc.) Still the fi-.lidi were aware that these books were Dot in the Hebrew, and this fact was occasional ly stated by them, and the words ''extra canonical" —outside the Hebrew canon "ec- clesiastical'' —admitted by church attached to them. Some few, too, in the absence of a public definition of the church spoke of them with less reverence than of other books, and in a few instances spoke as if they scarcely knew what to think of them. No father is known to have posi tively rejected them. Jerome certainly did uot.although he allowed a distinctionbe tween them and other books in arguing from them against Jews or heretics. There were from the beginning grounds more than sufficient upon which the church could base a decree placing these books in the canon, as she did in the council of Carthage the decrees of which the bishop of Rome ac cepted. Yet, as I have often stated, there was, without a decree of the church, suffi cient room for doubt to render the com plete fermation of a canon through mere scholarship impossible. The very same difficulty occurred for the New Testament. It too has its Dentero canonicai books—books which were not for some time placed in the canon by univer sal consent. They are the Epistles of St. James, the Second of Peter, that of Jude, the Second and Third of John, the Epistle to the Hebrews and the Apocalypse. The early Syrian versions, among other authorities, did not contain these books. The question was finally settled for them, as for the Deutero-canonical books of the Old Testament, by the church, and without the church the question would nevor have been settled. We can fairly ask Mr. Thomas what is hisjvule for the admission of books into the canon, and on this rule, whatever it may be, we will show him that one book wheth er of the Old or New Testament, baa as much right to a placo in the canon as another. But we are very sure . he will not state plainly and briefly such rule, for, as I have again and again stated in my controversial discourses Protestantism cannot find logically any sure means of knowing whether a book or a part of a book in inspired or not. An infallible authority is the sole judge of in spiration, and when Protestantism talks of an inspired Bible, it talks of a subject about which it is profoundly ignorant. : the atjtiiejticitx OF THB latih *VTJI<GATS.' The church, Mr. Thomas tells us,has again made a mistake in . declaring "authentic" the Latin vulgate. The Trentine decree is here in broad defiance of Christian scholar ship. ■"■ Again, all we need, is some proofs of the thesis: The proofs will never be given. I have no doubt that the decree is opposed to the scholarship of some Christains, bat I deny very emphatically that it is opposed to Christian scholarship properly under stood. ■ . ' j' ! The Trentine decrees read: : If any one receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their ■• parts, as they have been used to be read in the Cath olic church, and as they' are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition, let him be anathema. * * * The synod ordains and declares that the said old and vulgate edition, which by the lengthened usage of so many ages, has been approved of in the church, be, in public lectures, disputations, sermons and expositions, held as authentic, and that no one is to dare, or presume to reject it under any pretext whatever. '■ Fur thermore, in order ;to ; restrain petulant spirits, it decrees that no one relying on his own skill shall, in matters of faith and of morals pertaining to the /edification I of the Chris tain doctrine, presume '.to inter pret scripture to the sense which' the . cL-rsL. Lath held ££.d drib, lull" The £• - nod finally ordains that "the said old and vnlgate edition be printed in the most correct manner possible. Rev. Mr. Thomas gives his own version of the decree, and then tears to pieces that same version. Unfortunately for him, his version of the decree is purely bis own. "From that moment, " he says, "no Rom anist has had the intellectual right to doubt that the vulgate entire, that is, every book and every chapter of the same, with all its parts, that is,every verse,every clause,every word, and, for aught I know,every letter of the same, is sacred and canonical." The impartial reader can examine the decrees of the council; he will not mistake their meaning. The council has in con sideration "matters of faith and of morals pertaining to the edification of the Chris tian doctrine" matters brought up "in public lectures, disputations, sermons and expositions," and for rach matters the vnlgate is de clared authentic. So far is the council from decreing that every word and letter is authentic, that it orders an edition of the vnlgate to be printed in the "most correct manner possible," intimating that absolute perfection is not possible. The term "au thentic" the church borrows from Roman jurisprudence. A document is authentic when it compels credence, either when it is shown to be the original itself, or, if a transcript or translation, to substantial ly conform to the original. The vulgate, all Catholics profess, is in all matters of moment, in matters of faith and morals, pertaining to the edification of the Christian doctrine, in other words, substan tially conform to the original manuscripts of the inspired writers. So far as words.inci dental and immaterial expressions,elegance of style, the more or Icbh complete render ing of the shade of meaning of the origi nal—the church leaves these matters to "Christian scholarship," That is the meaning of the decrees, the obvious reading of the decrees themselves, the statement of the theologians and fathers of the council, the continuous action of the church, the testimonies of numerous Protestant writers, place beyond all doubt. Cardinal Manning in giving this meaning "whittles down" no decree, unless that de cree be Mr. Thomas' own version, and when I am supposed to differ from Cardinal Manning in interpretaion of the decrees I am supposed to do, not what I wish my self, but what Mr. Thomas wishes me to do. When God gave the scriptures to his church he willed that through the course of ages they should be preserved substantially correct. This much was needed in testimony of the faith. He might have guarded every word; it was not necessary, and he does not work miracles needlessly. Through his mercy to his church Catholics not only know what books were once inspired, but they know that they possess to-day these books in an au thentic and assured form, and for this cer tainty they thank the Giver of all good gifts. In presence of the true interpretation of the decrees, Mr. Thomas' objections fall to the ground. "The vulgate, unlike the works of God, had been pronounced per fect before it was created." The wit here is quite pointless. The vulgate, as ap proved by the council, existed, and had always existed, in the church, in her re ceived text, which, soattered as it may have been in many manuscripts, and many edi tions, was always substantially one and the same. It approved the accidental matters in no manuscript or edition. Now, if the Trentiue decree is opposed to Christian scholarship, let the places in the vulgate deserving of censure be marked out. I await the information. Every book and every part of every book, in the true meaning of the decrees, I will defend on the ground of scholarship—in cluding the passage relating to the pool of Bethsaida, which I have once before defended, against Mr. Thomas, quite well and scholarly, as he himself afterward ad mitted. As to the imaginary war between Popes Sixtu? nw.l Clement. I have only to re in;; that the diifeieucefl between the two «-vi fio::s were simply the correction by the una of typographical errors in the other, and changes in minor things. There was no substantial difference be- tween them. Neither edition professed to be free from accidental errors. That there were some disputes among the theologians who had charge of the editioas regarding minor renderings, I do not deny. The questions of this nature were the legitimate property of Christian bcholars, and they had the right to their own opinions. The vulgate to-day is not perfect in these minor matters; the edition is aimply as good as it was possible at the time. There may be some day in the fut ure a revision of the vnlgate. But the re vision will make no substantial changes; it will not leave out whole passages; it will not throw Catholics into a "Biblical ohaos," and with that revision if it comes in our days I will, without "playing the dema gogue" still speak of the "Biblical chaontf among Protestants. A mistake of Mr. Thomas right here is rather| amusing. Sixtus, he bays, ''declared the plenary authority of the edi tion for all future time. We acternus was his confident language" —'one pope puts under anathema an edition which he calls eternal.' Sixtus never dreamt of Bach a thing as calling his edition 'eternal.' Mr. Thomas only read the two first words of the pentlfical letter; it was enough for him, as if they referred to the "edition," his theory of papal contradiction was all right; had he moved another step he would tiave seen that the Ille aeternus refers to tna Almighty, whose eternity no doubt Mr. Thomas will admit. "And now, haviDg shown these two spe ciiicationa of error to be true, I hold that my thesis is proved." This is Mr. Thom a.->" conclusions, I beg to hold that it is by no means —except in hi» owu mihd. . j^'>~^"/.' :*Y,..- TSS SCHOIaABSHEP OF TH« VULfiATE. '"' ; Our chief argument in defense of the valgate is the teaching of God's church concerning its authenticity. From the ex clusive standpoint of scholarship its defense is an easy task. It stands before the schol arship of the world to-day the unrivaled version of the scriptures. That it should be so its j very history suggests. It is as it came from the hands of Jerome and his cotemporaries older ■ than • the , ; old est ':: manuscript .• that -.'. ; has ; sur vived the wreck '■ '6 of time. It was based upon a Latin version made jin the early days of the Christian church. The! best Hebrew and Greek manuscripts | were at Jerome's disposal; he had at his ser vice the valuable collections of j Origen, all of which have since perished. ? His work was controlled by the whole Christian world, most jealous of the purity of the scriptural text, and > has been guarded for 1600 years»y the church with the most tender and ..watchful: care. '^VAs^ versions from Syria, Egypt, Chaldea, made even earlier than itself or ootemporaneous to it, are brought to view and studied, the fidelity of the vulgate becomes transparent. It has been tested by manuscripts, by writ ings of early fathers, by liturgical collec tions, and its defenders have never been obliged to retreat.EminentProteatant schol ars have been loud in its praises. The late revision has in numerous instances corrob orated its readings. Where the revision in leaving out some passages differs from it, carried off by : the mania which has broken out within the last half century of abandoning all other sources of informa tion' except v a : few uncial H manuscripts,* the * vulgate T. can ':"; easily pbe ; proved correct, and for. one instance-; where the revisers * abandoned the .vulgate .tlicro are scores^ of instances where' they changed : the King James Bible by ap proaching to, or adopting, its ; renderings. The vulgate fearlessly invites Christian scholarship to . examine it, and to pay tribute through it to the historic mother and protectress of art and science,: of scholarship in all its domain —the Catholic church. ' . John IbeijAhd. f St. Paul, Dec. 16, 1882. X*v i KANSAS WHEAT. The Winter Crop Said to be In Fine Condi . tion—The ' Prospect of an Enormous Yield. / ': ■ ;■; •. : .-.'v?,^;-^ Topeka, Eas., Dec 16.—Reports have been published that the ccld weather had unfavorably affected the winter wheat crop of this state. > Inquiry at the, office '. of the state board of agriculture fails.' to elicit any information, while the land depart ment of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe is in receipt of a telegram on . the subject from upward of twenty points in - south, central and southwestern Kansas, only one of which reports any damage. Such of the counties as return an < acreage materially affecting the ; • general . . average are said to. have wheat fields that never looked better at this time of the year.. | The winter has been open and there has been no frost to speak of. The replies to Col. Johnson's questions also show that in the more easterly counties early sown wheat is in the best * condition, owinjr to the favorable state of the ground ,' at the time of seeding. Further west the late plant is the more thrifty, the earlier seed having been scattered or in some cases picked up by birds, ; but everywhere the prospects are bright,and as former reports have indicated that the average is as large as last year, it is safe to predict, other cir cumstances being favorable, another great wheat crop next year. DEMOCRATS ORGANIZING. The Kansas Democratic Editors Organiz ing for a "Worthy Purpose. Fobt Scott, Kas., Dec. 16.- -The follow ing call was to-day issued from the Banner office of this city. In accordance with the expressed desire of the Democratic press of the state of Kansas, the editors of all newspapers of the state supporting the doctrines of the Democratic party are re quested to meet in the city of Topeka, Monday, Jan. 8. The object of the con vention is to farther the interests of the fraternity by closer ac quaintance and freer communication, and to advance the standard of the great Democratic party in both state and nation by unifying and energizing the press, in support and maintenance of the reform that will begin in this state with the inau guration of c Democratic governor, and the grand Democratic principles of popu lar righis, and antagonism to the misrule, monopolizing influences, oppressive tax ation, speculation and fraud which have been characteristic features of the Repub lican party in the past, and to uphold the verdict of the people registered at the elec tions. A HANDY ARRANGEMENT. A North Carolina Farmer Who Sold His Wife to a Neighbor Who Was Tired of ! Living Alone. | Special Telegram to the Globe.] Winston, N. C, Dec. 16.—Intelligence reaches here that the people of Stokes county, in this state, are very much ex cited over the discovery of the actual sale by one man of his wife to another. Alfred Jenkins, the owner of a farm in that sec tion, a few days ago sold his wife to Noah M. Glidewill, a neighboring farmer, for $500. He then sold his little farm and moved away, leaving Glidewill in quiet possession of the newly purchased wife. The transfer of the wife from one man to another was clone us thorrjh the men had simply swapper! .horror-. The original owner and Grille?;:! were neighbors. Jenkins, in con% c. .--,•: 1 [-'aid he wanted to move away arid was not able to ■'/ take his wife. Glidewill said he was himself tired of living without a wife, and was willing to buy her if Jenkins would be willing to sell her. The latter named $500, and after further conversation the transfer was agreed upon. Mrs. Jenkins was consulted and cheerfully agreed to the sale. She at once took up her effects and went to Glidewill's house, where she is now living, and seems per fectly contented with her new husband and home. MARRIED AN OCTOROON, And Soon After Did r,h« Next Best Thine; by Committing Suicide. f Spscial Telegrasa to the Globe.] Pittbbubgh, Bee. —The cause of the suicide of young Matthews in Chicago a few days ago leaked out to-day. His par ents, who are well-to-do, respectable peo ple, reside in Alleghany City. The son about a year ago formed the acquaintance of and married a handsome octoroon. This was a severe blow to the parents, who had expected better things of the young man, and they ,at once set to work to create trouble between the husband and wife, so as to bring about a separation. Ia this they were successful. As a last resort they induced the young man to go to Chi cago on the plea that he would thus better his financial condition. The wife remained at her home in Alleghany, receiving fre quent letters from her husband,, all of them couched in terms of fond endear ment. Finally he became despondent and wrote that he would rather die than be separated from the only woman he loved. The next news was that he had committed suicide. The body is now on the " way to this city, and the octoroon , wife avows her determination to obtain possession of it for burial, even if she has to resort to legal measvres. She has considerable property and many friends who have stood by her in her marital trouble. One child is the fruit of their union, a bright little fellow who bears a striking resemblance to his father. Poor Cole. | Faribuuit Democrat.] Some OTer-offieioos admirers of the Hon. Gordon £. Cole have mentioned him in connection with the speakership in snch a manner as to leave the impression that he is a candidate for that office. If there is any one thing Mr. Cole does not want, it is the speakership. A man of his endow ments is worth more to himself and the people, a hundred fold, upon the floor. Any man who can read a manual, him muscle enough to sving a gavel, has nerve and cheek, (especially cheek) can make a good speaker, [See Fletcher's record] oat it takes brains and cultivation to make a first-class member. The last thing in the world Mr. Cole wants or that his friends want for him is to be tied np in the speak er's chair. Stillwater Gazette: This is called the logger's snow. At least we heard one of them remark last Saturday, when the beautiful was falling, that if he had the entire planning of the affair he couldn't possibly have made any improvement on that snow storm. Cor. Third and Wabashaw Sts. I 251-3-5, Nicollet Avenue. ST. PAUL. J MINNEAPOLIS. •This institution has established a reputation for thoroughness and fairness which iuok«i ■< the Leading Commercial School o th West," ;' .\ : . WHITE TO j LIQUOBB ASP WPTKa. ' : ;: v. " BfTfTlff 0 ':'fiik WHOLESALE . JUlllL & ill., LIQUORS & WINES. ' We have the oontro) < this market of the unrivaled O. F. 0., the Hume and Crystal Bprizun WhUkUa and an also handling toe W. H. Mcßray«'e and Heu»n Whiskies and Onok^etaS^l WM«"" 194 East Third Street, - - - - , - st, Paul, Minn '- ..' .'.',. .". ' ' , , •" WHOLESALE DBY GOODS. AUEBBACH, FINCH & VAN SLICK i f Be Only Leatiog Dry Goods Bonseia Hie Kofci. Competes with the Markets or New York and Chicago ■ "•''■■ - BTAITDABD SOAU3 >;"' :': ''. ". FAIRBANKS | ECLIPSE STANDARD jj SELF-BEGULATING ■. SCALEBI '.IWIND MILLS FAIRBANKS, MORSE & CO., ■ - 66 East 'TOrT street WHOLESALE DEALEBS NO YES BROS. & CUTLER, IMPORTERS & WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS. 68 and 70 Siblsy Street, Comer Fifth, - - - -A ' Paul The VijestDmsrSt/iroand Stock; In the' West. " Toward the Rising Sail THE , : Albert Lea Route," Which is compose of tha i Minneapolis & St. Louis Kaflwuy. Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern i ', Railway; and the ' Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Rail 9 ay Announces to the peopl9 of Minneapolis, St. Pan and the Great Northwest, that it is now running two trains daily to Chicago, connecting with all the trainb leading East, Northeast, Southeast and South, affording travelers unsurpassed accom modations, sure connections and quick time to Chicago, New York, Boston, Philadel phia, Baltimore, Washington, To ronto, Montreal, Quebec, And in fact to all Eastern points in the United States and Canada. The 6:30 p. m. train from Minneapolis runs through to Chicago, arriving in the latter city at 8:15 p. m., in ample time to connect with the Limited and Fast Express Trains to the East. TRAVELERS FROST Northern Minnesota, Dakota & "";.:;: ;.-.; t Will find this thebestand niostcohvei-:^.:. tonic i to the East, as connections are mado in Ihe hn ion Depot at Minneapolis, guaxdinga^;i:ii-t Joss. of time Romember, St. Panl pasw?hgers leave tbeUiriaz] Depot at 7:25 a. m. and 5:30 p. in., and leave the Union Depot at Minneapolis at 8:10 v. in. aiid 6:30 p. m. Fare always as low as by any other routfl, and baggage checked through. Ask for your tickets via this route, and be sure they read via Aloert Lea and V eet, Liberty. B. F. Mills, General Freight and Passenger Agent, 8., C. B. & N. Railway. A. H. Bode, General Traffic Manager, M. & St. L. Railway. E. St. John, General Ticket and Passenger Agent, C., R. I. & P. Railway. The city office of the Albert Lea Route in Minneapolis is at No. 8 Washington avenue, op posite Nicollet house, and in St. Paul at corner Third and Siblov streets. HEALTH IS WEALTH Dr. E. C. West's nerve and brain treatment, a specific for hysteria, dizziness, convulsions, nervous headache, mental depression, lose of memory, premature old age, caused by over exertion or over-icdulgeuce, which leads to mis ery, decay and death. One box -will cure recent cases. Each box contains one month's treat ment. One dollar a box or six boxes for live dollars, sent by mail prepaid on receipt of price. We guarantee six boxes to cure any case. With each order received by us for sis boxes, accom panied with five dollars, we will send the pur chaser our written guarantee to return the money if the treatment does not effect a cure. Guar antees issued ouly by Lambie & Co., -corner Third and Wabashaw streets, St. Par.', Jti;ui. Orders by mail promptly attt-ndui t<>. fDobbins' Starch Polish, j [HOW DA SHINE •\ An'-Important Jdiscovery by | • - which 'every family -"may - give their lin en that bean tiful finish pc- I collar to fine I laundry work. 1 Ask your Grocer. Jib. DOBBINS. U Philadelphia, MISS LAURA W. HALL, : '..'''- TEACHER OF --■--;— PIAKO, ORGAH AM HABMOSTt :s '. ■ Gthe&T^ -".- I Residence ,;■ .* ;: j j-j^- .v] ; No. 182 Western- Avenue, St. Antony Hi. SAINT PAUL. MINN. Sl,® SUCCESS ASSURED. ,^^ •*& Our well-tried pi an of speculating i V ij%k in Grain, Stocks, etc. secures to m S* <IKS TLJ* tjle moderate investor all the ad w^ ™™ vantage and protection of the very SSL £f^ largest operator. Send for our ryßJp average monthly profits paid the ■**" past year, with particulars, free. ©5 fl jfa^k cri>worth & co., • SgP A' w V 89 Randolph St., Chicago, Ills. A2TT VXIC WAHXIIS9 Hard Wood Lntn.b3f, n any size will do well to apply to or addresi> M; L&ford, L'ttle Fh;»>. Wlnn.'s ■•?•-■-- rf3*f r.i Lumber ca ibe delivered <s<i *-.- • «-.-:-. v.. : . Lcears. ■■ , _ ... .', ■■' ■■'■■xi-r. BUSINESS COLLEGES. LEADING BUSINESS UN OF .Si 1- PAUZ, - - lO.JV7V ARCHITECTS. E. P. BASSFOBD, German Amor. Bank Bntldiw! H. S. TREHERNE, C. E., 19 Gilfillan Block. A. D. HINSDALE, Presley Block. A. M. RADCLIFF, Ingersoll Bloclt. /■*•■ -' J. WALTER STEVEN Davidson Block, Bcca^ 26 and 26. ARTISTS' MATERIALS. SHERWOOD HOUGH, Cor. Third and Wsb*sb*v STEVENS & ROBERTSON, 15 East Third «r«>t St. Paul. BOOKS AND STATIONERY. SHERWOOD HOUGH, Cor. Third and Wabashaw. ST. PAUL BOOK & STATIONERY CO, 37 Rut Third street. * CARRIAGES AND SLEIGHS. ~~ A.NIPPOLT corner Seventh and Sibley etr««ti CARPETS AND WALL PAPEB JOHN MATHEIS, 11 East Third street. W. L, ANDERSON, 36 East Third street DRY GOODS—Wholesale. *>nTRfSACH, FINCH & VAN SLYCE, Sible* ■1 ■ -i.. »t»tw«na Fourth-and Fifth. - SHY COQDS-Ratail. "* LHTDJSKE, LADD & CO., 3 East Third street. = TUBB, FEATEEBS AHD QINSEHq. A. O. BAILEY, 10 Jackson street. ~~~~~ FUSNITUBE, FEATHERS, fee. STEES BROS., 61 East Third street. Estui::^.^ 1850. OBOCEBIES-Wholeaale. P. H. KELLY & CO., 142 to 148 East Third street. EABDWABE TOOLS. F. Q. DRAPER & CO.. 85 East Third street. . JEWELERS AND WATCHMAKERS. ' EMIL GEIST, 67 East Third street. LOOKING GLASSES. . ~ STEVENS ie ROBERTSON, 15 East Third street. St. Panl. ■•' • • •■■-:■■ .'.•■.. . .... -■ . ,'.PAPEB. ' . " ' "•• T. 8. WHITE STATIONERY CO., No. 71 East Third street. ■ ■ ■ ■ ■> PAPEB AMDSTATIOKEKY. ~ T. S. WHITE & CO.. No. 71 East Third street > PICTURES AND FRAMES. STEVENS & ROBERTSON, 16 East Third scree* St. Paul. ■ *■ STATIONERY. it T. S. WHITE STATIONERY CO., No. 71 East Third street. , , -..,.'..- . . ; . , : . . TRUNK MAKERS i - ~ OBXPFBB ft UPSON, 74 East Third street. W. H. GARLAND, 41 East Third strse '4 \ WISE 3 A3TO LiaUOBS-Whclesale. U.'KUITT/Jt 00.; Wholesale Dealers in LJcjaors .ir..i Wines, iii Bait Third street, St. Paul. . r , WHOLESALE KOIIOHS. v ARTHUR, WARREN & ABBOTT, 186 and 168 East Third street. '-■---■■.--■ . -: ..> : . WHOLESALE HARDWARE. STEONQ, HACKETT & CO., 213 to 219 E. Hit at ? ; v.y r;;^ *:;* PLTJMBZ2S.-;:; "sf. - GAS FIXTURES Kenney &■ Hudnep a lO3 <& 105 West Third -Street. ; ;: - Opposite Metropolitan Hotel. .-> riLkv i i BLC^ s Thousands bless ; tins PILE OIXT3IEXT. : If you suffer one ,d.ay v longer it is your own fault, lor Williams' f Indian Pile; Ointment is a sure cure for Bleedixo, Itching, Ulcebated or PBoTßtrwxG Pile;?. No ! matter how long standing, Williams' - ; Indian Pile Ointment will cure you. /lion. • Judge Coffinberbt, of Cleveland, O.", sag 5: "It cured me when all other remedies aileu.;' Fred. P. Allen, Troy, X.Y., says: "I sur fered day and night with itching riles. S. O. Gleason, druggist, recommended Williams' - Pile Ointment, and it cured me at encc?» ■ Every Box is Warranted. TRY IT. SoM by all Druggists, and sent by mail on recciji' oi Price, $1.00 per Box. Send lor Circular. - ■ -- ■•>■> FRANKS. & €0., Prop's, 'M :io\^ 'y^l^'-k^ 'J;r CLEVELAND. (Mila *?; : *^!O YE ? BROS. & 'Wholesale 'g in s FOP CATALOGUE.