Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-31
Fitted for Great Task.

Fitted for Great Task.
Abbot Gasquet is regarded as singularly
fitted for the task which will occupy the
remaining years of his life. He was the
one among the many Catholic scholars Of
the world that was selected by the Pope
to carry out the work. The greater part
of his life has been passed in research
work and he is linsuist Of unusual abil-
ity. For years he has searched through
the archives of England for manuscripts,
and from sources Of the kind had pro-
duced his reliable histories. such as
Henry VIII and the English Monas-
teries, THE Eve of the Reformation"
and others. 1t was with some regret that
he undertook this new and burdensome
task, but despite the amount of hard
work placed upon him he has found time
to write history of medieval England,
which, when published, will throw a new
light on the religious controversies of
that country
The work of Abbot Gasquet and his
commission is expected to be Of untold
value to all readers and students of the
Bible, Protestant as wen as Catholic, as
1t will gather together the most complete
collection of biblical manuscripts now In
existence. Besides this the commission
will make a complete revision Of the
Latin translations and give the world the
most accurate copy of the Latin Bible
since the fourth century, when st. jerome
completed the task originally. at the COM
mand Of Pope Damascus.
Since the days of st. Jerome much has
been added to the Bible for which there Is
said to be no authority. This was done by
copyists before the invention Of the print
ing press. These earnest and often over
jealous workers frequently grated old
readings. words and phrases to st.
Jerome's scholarly text and in time the
new copies of the Vulgate We're much
like the italia, pre-Jerome edition of the
Bible. While these were not authorized
the Catholic Church did not consider
them heretical, but made frequent effort
to have them revised. however, without
satisfactory success owing to the stu
pendous task.
One OF the early revisions attempted
was made by Alcuin. the learned Bene-
dictine scholar and Abbot OF Tours in
France. This revision was made in the
his patron, Emperor Charlemagne. OF
Alcuin's labors three cOdices have come
down 10 us. as Codex Vallicellanus, 'Codex
Paulius and Zurich CodeX.
None Ever Completed.
About tho same period in history Theo-
DIFF, tho famous Bishop of Orleans,
made his revision which. however, sa-
vors much OF the early Spanish readings.
Several other notable men undertook to
make revisioEs of the Nulgate. but none
was evev complete. At the beginning Of
the sixteenth century the text of st.
jerome had become somewhat obscure.
and the Council Of Trent III 1Ji6 called
upon Pope Paul III TO revise the Bible.
A commission was appointed. but no re
vision was mace until 1850, when Pope
Sixtus V published his version. This
edition was withdrawn shortly arterward,
and only forty-one copies are now In ex-
istence.
In 1891 a new commission was ar
pointed. with Cardinal Colonna at its
head. This commission finished its labors
in nineteen days. That same year Car
XIV, and published his edition in 1892.
It is this Latin text that is in use today.
1t is called the Clementine Bible, after
the Pope.
Even when this Bible was published It
was conceded that 1t was not complete,
and would have to be revised some day,
but none attempted to undertake the
work until Pope Plus X ordered the
work begun. Ais charges though simple,
We're very severe. They were to deter
mine the wording of the text of st,
Jerome's Latin translation OF the year
i'll.
Starting out with what appeared to be
a stone wall in front of them, the CON-
mission, headed by Abbot Gasquet, pre-
pared to scale it. That they have sue
ceeded and their work will be carried on .
to completion is now assured. When |
system Of work was decided upon Abbot |
Gasquet sent Benedictine scholars to |
search the archives and libraries Of Eu- |
rope. These men travelled from the |
Mediterranean to the steppes Of Rus I!
sia Everywhere they We're received |;
with welcome. and vaults. secret cham !,
bers and libraries filled with dust-coy- |
cred manuscripts were thrown open to !
them. Many of these had not been dis |
turbed for centuries, but all were now |
uncovered, and In the massive pile II, UOO .
biblical manuscripts containing $1,000
pages have been brought to light
Use Made Of Camera.
AS the commission could not borrow |
these, nor could they be bought at any |
price, a modern way of gathering the |
material into its own ARCHES was struck |
upon by the commission. This was to |
photograph each page. thereby getting an |
exact reproduction Of the original.
large camera, with a rectangle prism |
attached to its lens, was equipped for /
the purpose. BY this method the picture |
of the manuscript is thrown directly upon |
sensitiZed paper. which when developed I
turns out black page with facsimile |
in white Of the painted letters of the |!
manuscripts AS the camera does not lie |
the commission is gathering on its book
shelves in Rome large folio pictorial vol
umes of every known Bible manuscript |
in existence. When completed this will
ton of manuscripts in the world--one to i
3inl rsSn rf writ hal