New-York tribune., 1908-12-27

n TIE little town OF Bethlehem, IN the Holy
Land Is s~cave. half natural and half hewn out
Of the rock which is pointed out TO tourists as
the rlsoe where 81. Jerome spent the last thirty
four years OF his life and where ne finished his
translation d the Bible from the original tongues
into what then the vulgar or common tongue,
she language of the people. Latin Here by the
side q h4ge desk. stre~n with manuscripts. in
creek Hebrew. Chaldee and Latin he used TO
sit End o. the other side OF the desk sat two
nche Roman ladies. studying the manuscripts with
the trauslato c-fticisng his work and acting
his secretaries. AS St jerome is noted for the
fsrce things he said about II strange
20 ind kim With such companions. and
var certainly strange resort for then Their
employment. too. was strange at time when
people used seriously TO discuss whether women
had sezls, and they were usually not suspected
os having minds Let US see how these strange
things happened
Paula the elder Of the two women, had been
wealthy Roman uzstron- No palace in Rome had
beea more magnificent than hers, one had
worn richer robes OF more costly jewel5- II seems
70 have been the fashion then. II has sometimes
besn since. for women 10 appear weak and help
less and Paula fashionable and her gar
snents were besides. heavy with gold that she
never moved about without two slaves to support
her But she wasn't by any means helpless
or so frivolous she looked She was
learned as any college graduate. and she devoted
much of her time and money 10 religion and good
WORKS.
~ This time about the end OF the fourth century
nos, q the Romans had become Christians. but
raEsnisrn fingered among the upper classes Paula
rsxsre- and many u her friends were Chris
fsaus They used 70 meet together at the home OF
fsrreIia another wealthy Roman lady. There
they would sing psalms. read the Bible, discuss
f7e points Of doctrine that probably wouldn't
be abe 70 understand all and plan their chari-
ties They founded hospitals and converts. built
homes for widows and orphans and cared for fl
the 2oor who came to them
Here Paula St Jerome He had come TO
Rome TO attend some congress Of the Church, just
ss people come TO he big cities to-day for that
purpose and Marcella' became his hostess Jerome
vas as different as possible from Paula People
had q curious idea IN those days that IN order TO
e perfectly vfrtuous II necessary 10 live in
the desert and make ones self very uncomfortable
Jerome had been dong this for number Of years.
by the sun and he was very haggard and lean
His clothing was coarse and plain. his manners
did not have any Of the Roman elegance, and his
.er7per was very bad with people that he didn't
snu-ove Of But he did approve Of Paula. and she
s-n-ored OF hic1- They became great friends at
ou-e and Jerome became the life and soul OF the
Ii--le circle that gathered n Marcella's palace
Here he remained for three years finding It. no
do,,bt much pIeasznte- than the desert, and here
he began his famous translation Of the Bible
which We call the Vulgate. because IL was written
81 ire vulgar tongue Paula and MaTce!la, who
knew both Greek and Hebrew, were delighted 10
telp with this work. and many happy hours they
must have spent over &