USA > Indiana > Knox County > Vincennes > History of Old Vincennes and Knox County, Indiana, Volume I > Part 50
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Perhaps to Busseron township belongs the distinction of having the first "regulated" school, outside of Vincennes. This, however, was not a public school, having been built by the Shakers, who founded Shaker Prairie about 1810. In the year 1825 a schoolhouse was built on the farm of John Sproatt; later another was erected on the Ochiltree farm, and still later one was built on Hogg's Hill. Judge Latshaw taught school at Oaktown in 1830. Among the other pioneer teachers of the township were James Polk, James Carnahan and Joseph Shaw, who taught in primitive school- houses in Oaktown. There is quite a contrast between the schools of to- day at Oaktown and those of a decade ago. The present school building was erected in 1898. The attendance has increased so rapidly since its con- struction as to necessitate its enlargement, for which Trustee Thomas Huff- man has planned. J. V. Masters is superintendent of the Oaktown schools ; Myrtle J. Polk, principal; Noah E. Helderman, assistant ; Hattie Latshaw, music instructor. The other teachers are Faye Bartley, Lorin Schumard, Beulah Winemiller, Ethel Bland, Bessie Ashby, Estella Bond.
EMISON IIIGII SCHIOOL.
The splendid schoolhouse at Emison was built in 1910, and it is an institution in which the entire populace of the little village take a personal pride. The building was erected under the supervision of Trustee Huff- man. The principal of No. 8 is Bert B. Clark; Jesse Ford Robbins, as- sistant principal; May Beers and Incz Sartor, teachers.
NORTH SIDE PUBLIC SCHOOL, VINCENNES
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
The following are the names of teachers of Busseron township having charge of schools in the several districts: Bertha Enley, Love No. 2; Claude H. McClure, Ford, No. 3; Nellie McClure, Busseron, No. 4; Marie Sprinkle Ridge, No. 10; Lestor Sartor, Black, No. 11.
SCHOOLS OF DECKER TOWNSHIP.
Decker township, which was until recent years but sparsely settled, never enjoyed the advantages of schools until a late date. Until Robert Jacobus, James A. Dick and members of the Decker and Anthis families moved into that locality, the educational opportunities were meagre. Sam- uel Goodwin and Thomas Jones were among the first teachers in the town- ship. Decker, while not having a graded school, has nine modern district schools-one being the counterpart of the other in architectural design.
DISTRICT SCHOOL NO. 2, DECKER TOWNSHIP.
Arthur T. Cain, trustee of the township, takes a lively interest in the schools, all of which are supplied with competent teachers, whose names, with the number of the school over which each presides, are here given : Henry Emmons Crow, No. 1; Shirley Leveron, No. 2; Adron Decker, No. 3; Gertrude Guiler, No. 4; Blanche Purdy, No. 5; Carl Catt, No. 6; Harry Smith, No. 7; H. McCrillus, No. 8; Homer Ray, No. 9.
SCHOOLS OF HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
The first schoolhouse in Harrison township was built on the farm of James Junkins, and its teacher was Benjamin Doty, an irritable man, who, it is said, "ducked" obstreperous pupils in Nelson creek, a small stream flowing near the school. The exact date of the erection of this house is not given; but it was very early in the eighteenth century. Tradition says it was very primitive, having an earthen floor and no windows. Light was admitted and cold excluded by means of greased paper, which was made to answer the purpose of a window, and covered an opening sawed out of the logs. In Harrison, as in other townships, many of the early schools were taught at private houses or in barns. In the number of schools Har- rison leads all other townships, having twenty outside of Monroe City, in which J. B. Hannah, the present township trustee, manifests great interest. The Monroe schoolhouse, the construction of which was begun in 1910, has just been completed.
MONROE CITY HIGH SCHOOL.
The building cost about $15,000, and is very commodious and well ar- ranged. Bartlow Slater is its superintendent; Benj. F. Shafer, principal ;
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Jesse E. Adams, assistant principal. The other teachers are Anna Myers Wallace, Minnie Robbins, Bertha Reel, Edward E. Cockerham and Lemuel Edwards.
The names of the teachers and schoolhouses, and the numbers of the schools in the several districts are as follows: Thomas G. Crandall. Pond creek, No. 1; W. L. Johnson, Antler, No. 2; Alex Dillon, Reel, No. 4; Mabel Kirk, Junkin, No. 5; Norma Allen, Small, No. 6; John D. Bartlow, Freeland, No. 7; Thomas E. Martin, McRay, No. 8; Ora Summit, Bald- win, No. 9; Abbie J. Myers, Ray, No. 10; Joseph Myers, Sand Hill, No. II; Icel Hawkins (graded), No. 12; Oliver P. Martin, Johnson, No. 13; Charles E. Whalen, Myers, No. 14; Lella Devin, Dellinger, No. 15; Harry Huffman, Prairie Creek, No. 16; Lois Maxedon, Verne, No. 18; Bell Ray, Oak Leaf, No. 19; Bessie Adams, Beeman, No. 20.
SCHOOLS OF JOHNSON TOWNSHIP.
On a farm then owned by St. Clair Minor in 1820, was built a house designed to answer the dual purpose of school and church. It was called the "Township House of Learning and Worship," and marked the estab- lishment of the first school and church in Johnson. Its first teachers were Rev. Benjamin Hall and Samuel Martin, who were succeeded by Mason Wallace and Garret Cochran. The township now has a graded school at Deckertown, besides nine district schools in the rural settlements. The
DECKERTOWN HIGH SCHOOL.
first graded school was built at Deckertown in 1877. The present build- ing, which is as handsome as any in the county, was completed in 1910. Its superintendent is Lawrence Maher ; principal, Oscar Frederick. Elsie V. Martin is instructor in music and drawing, and the following are teach- ers in the several grades ; Cora Wheeler, Etta E. Harrell, Carrie Haskins, Ethel Bedell.
The various schools in the districts are taught by the following persons : William Lagenour, lona, No. 1; Fannie Elder, Mail, No. 3; Jesse Hughes, Deem, No. 4; Minnie Myer, Vollmer, No. 6; Hope Henry, Chimney Piere Hills, No. 7; Thornton Stuckey, Bluebaum, No. 8; Flossie Keith, Roder- mel. No. 9; J. D. Manning, Cain Ridge, No. 10; Blanche Sisson, Tadpole. No. 12. Cleve C. Harrall is Johnson township's efficient trustee.
SCHOOLS OF PALMYRA TOWNSHIP.
The first schoolhouse in Palmyra was built on the southeastern border of the township, close to the line which divides it from Harrison township, and was a very crude structure. George Brewster, William Gambel and Mr. Black were among the early teachers. The late Samuel T. Langdon built a more modern school on his farm at a later date. For a time Indiana
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SOUTH SIDE PUBLIC SCHOOL. VINCENNES
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
church answered the purpose of a township school for children living in its vicinity, and the Purcell, Hollingsworth and McClure families were among its patrons. A modern two-story, brick and stone building, which will supplant No. 6 has just been completed. Its location is Frichton, and there is not another settlement its size in the state that can boast of a finer schoolhouse. The building has five graded rooms and a high school depart- ment, to none of which teachers have as yet been assigned. The names of teachers, locations and numbers of schoolhouses in the township are as fol- lows: Laura Wampler, Green's Corner, No. 1: Edith Hill, Royal Oak, No. 2; L. C. Campbell, Lucy E. Myers, Welton (graded), Nos. 3-7; Min- nie Wampler. McClure, No. 4; Clem Tade, Root. No. 5; Edgar M. Mc- Clure, Palmyra, No. 6; Selma Schumacher, Boyd. No. 8; Lizzie Welton, Holy Hill, No. 9; Elenora Owen, Thorne. No. 10. Willis S. Russell, whose home is at Frichton, is the trustee of Palmyra township.
SCHOOLS OF STEEN TOWNSHIP.
Steen township, being originally a part of Harrison and Palmyra town- ships, formed a triumvirate sharing in the benefits of the earlier schools. The Steens, who were the pioneers of this township, which bears the fam- ily names, were also among its pioneer educators. Nancy, or Mary, Steen not only had the distinction of being the first teacher of Steen but, in all probability, the first female teacher in the county. She was a painstaking instructor, and taught for many years in a modest little schoolhouse which stood on the present site of Wheatland. John Steen set aside one room in his small house for a school, which Harrell Wathen taught successfully for a number of years. Later, James Prather and Moses Dunn became prominent as teachers. Steen has now eight district schools and a graded school. the latter being located at Wheatland. The building
WHEATLAND HIGH SCHOOL.
was erected in 1907, is artistic in design, and has all modern improvements. Its corps of teachers are S. A. Lahr, superintendent ; Charles Zimmerman, principal; Elizabeth Purcell, assistant principal; Edith Wallace, drawing ; Nannie B. Dunn, Oscar M. Farley, Bessie Cain, Nellie Jones, Kathryn Anderson. The names of teachers and names and numbers of school- houses are as follows: Sadie Robinson, Apraw, No. 1 ; Fledo McElroy, Apraw, No. 2; Ruth Williams, Stephenson, No. 3; Claude Swope, Prather, No. 4; Harry Lett, Ruth Helen Smith, Oak Grove. No. 5: Lula Johnson, Bottom, No. 6; Ray Baltinghouse, Cain, No. 7; Lizzie Wright, colored, Wheatland, No. 8; Dr. Ellis H. Tade is the trustee of Steen township.
SCHOOLS OF VINCENNES TOWNSHIP.
Vincennes township has fourteen district schoolhouses, all of which are comfortably built. Full terms are taught in all of them, the attendance is
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
quite large, and an able corps of instructors, whose needs are liberally sup- plied by Trustee Frank Krack, get good results from the pupils who attend them. The names of the teachers and schools taught by them and the number of each school is here given: Blanche Beckes, Beal, No. 1; W. H. Johnson, Cathlinette, No. 2; Glenn Scott, McKee, No. 3; Mabel Freshour, Potter, No. 4; Anna C. O'Flynn, Emison, No. 5; Katharine Rogers, Bun- ker Hill, No. 7; Addie Simpson, Sievers, No. 8; Ida M. Stalkamp, Bre- voort, No. 9; Emma Ingram, Horse Shoe Pond, No. 10; Catharine Stangle, Coleshouse, No. 11; Cora S. Wall, Big Thicket, No. 12; Bert S. Leech, Band Mill, No. 14.
SCHOOLS OF VIGO TOWNSHIP.
Log houses, with dirt floors, puncheon seats, paper windows and mud chimneys were Vigo's first schools, and they were pretty well distributed throughout the township. Marion Johnson was one of the first male teachers, and Anna Rollins the first female teacher. They taught in the territory lying between Black Creek and White river, where the Slinkard family settled. The pioneer teachers in other localities were John Frost, Adam Golden, Samuel Anderson, John Donaldson, and others. James Polk is said to have been the first teacher in Edwardsport and taught in a log house which was destroyed by a wind storm in 1834. The first sub- stantial school building was built in Edwardsport in 1859, and contained three or four rooms. The present structure was built in 1909, and is a model schoolhouse. Daniel McCarver is the superintendent of the school;
EDWARDSPORT HIGH SCHOOL.
Reed A. Letsinger, principal; Pearl Phillippe, assistant principal; Lennie Engleman, instructor in music and drawing. The other teachers of the various grades are Bonnie Scott, Delia Algood, Ivy Anderson, Alice K. Reeve, Susie Culbertson. The teachers of the other schools in the township are Cyrus Wampler and Hazel Staley, Brick No. 1; George Hilburn, Jones Gap, No. 6; Roscoe Reeve, Black creek, No. 7; Wm. Menke, Rose M. Woodruff, Nellie Wagner, Westphalia, No. 8; Homer Algood. Edwards, No. 9; Mollie Warner, Sanders, No. 12; Wmn. Phillips, Harper, No. 15; Jane Hargis, Hulen, No. 16.
Sandborn also has a fine graded school, the number of which is thir- teen. Soon after the town was laid out there was a public schoolhouse erected therein. The present pretentious building was erected in 1903 and remodeled in 1909. It is a house of splendid proportions, and is presided over by A. M. Wheeler, superintendent; Esther Shively, principal, who are assisted by an able corps of teachers, as follows : Emma Villwock, Oscar C. Dunn, Ethel Reeve, Myrtle Anderson, Susie Cain, Bess Campbell. Miss
Graded School, Oaktown. Busseron Township
District School, No. 1. Docker Township
1
Graded School. Emison, Busseron Township
Monroe City Graded School, Harrison Township
Graded School, Freelandville, Widner Township
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Lennie Engleman, who gives lessons in music and drawing in the Edwards- port graded school, imparts instruction in these studies at No. 13.
The first schoolhouse built in Bicknell along modern lines was con- structed in 1883, in the shape of a brick building. The structure was two stories high and contained six rooms. In 1903 the present building, which has been subjected to minor changes since its construction, was erected. Outside of Vincennes, it is the most commodious schoolhouse in the county, and is the only one, aside from those located at the Old Post, that is under the supervision of a board of trustees, which board is composed of H. J. Gates, Charles Bainum and H. M. Buck. John S. Hoover, however, the trustee of Vigo, who has at heart the welfare of all schools in the town- ship, makes it a point to give to this institution his official consideration, in connection with the town board. The school's superintendent is W. A. Davis. The teachers in the high school are Clara Stevens, principal; Clay H. Arterburn, Arleigh Bunting, and the teachers in the intermediate and primary grades are Mrs. Pearl B. Davis, grade 7; Mae House, grade 6; Edith House, grades 5 and 6; Agnes F. Cox, grade 5; Helen Ballou, grade 4; Inez Bryant, grade 4; Fannie L. Green, grades 2 and 3; Olive Phillippe, grade 3; Walter Lemen, grades 3 and 4; Beulah Berry, grades 2 and 3; Ida Hoover, grade 2; Cordelia F. Jones, grades I and 2; Isola Wallace, grade 1; Reba Barr, grade I.
SCHOOLS OF WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
Among the early teachers of Washington township was James Polk, who first came into prominence as a pedagogue in Vigo township. The first schools were built at Maria creek, in the vicinity of the old Emison mill, and were patronized by families living in the northern end of the town- ship. The Indiana church was the early schoolhouse for Washington as well as Palmyra, and children living in the southern end of the former township enjoyed the same privileges accorded to those residing in the latter township. As a rule the teachers were ministers of the Presbyterian faith, who applied themselves to educational work to increase the meagre salaries which were paid in those days. Goodspeed's History of Knox County says that a Methodist minister named Richard Posey was also a pioneer teacher of Washington township, and that others were Johnson, Willard, Thompson and Montgomery. The same authority states that Horace and William Polk were widely known as teachers. In the vicinity of Bruceville log schools made their appearance as early as 1820. The first schoolhouse of enlarged proportions built in the town was erected in 1873 at a cost of about $7,000. It was a two-story brick, the furniture and ap- paratus with which it was amply supplied being paid for from proceeds of entertainments given by teachers and pupils. In 1879 a normal school was conducted at Bruceville in which Hon. W. A. Cullop was one of the teach-
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
ers. This school was organized by Messrs. John W. and E. B. Milain, W. H. Pennington and Miss Eliza Currie-the latter being a resident of Vin- cennes. C. B. Kessinger was also a teacher in the normal, which was very successfully conducted for many years. The present schoolhouse was built in 1909, and cost approximately $11,000. Lyman J. McClintock is super- intendent ; Charles B. Fowler, principal; Elsie V. Martin, instructor in music and drawing. The intermediate and primary departments are in charge of Elizabeth Kackley, Lottie Roberts, Mary Hollingsworth. The teachers in the district schools are Ellis Hogue, Center Oak, No. 1 ; Jessie Reeve, Barrows, No. 2; Bessie Lee Scott, Huddle, No. 4; Edna Pare, No. 5; Edna Kirchoff, Hoke, No. 9; Luna W. Sellers, Green, No. 10; Louis Kyle, Miller, No. 11 ; Nellie Hill, Sartor, No. 12. Trustee Stacy S. Hol- lingsworth takes deep interest in the schools of Washington township.
SCHOOLS OF WIDNER TOWNSHIP.
The homes of the pioneers in Widner township were used for school purposes ; and as early as 1808 John Widner converted one of the small rooms in his fortified domicile into a schoolroom, wherein Joseph Helt held sway as teacher. It is believed that Widner's was the first school and Helt the first teacher in the township. The old Maria Creek Baptist church in 1809 was used as a schoolhouse. In 1816 Titus B. Willard and John Lemon were teaching in the vicinity of the ancient house of worship. and two years later an active schoolmaster came into the township in the person of James Gray and taught in different sections, until 1820. From the date last named until the introduction of the public school system, many able teachers have plied their vocation in Widner township, establishing schools generally at private houses. In the year 1850. before the laying out of the town, a substantial school building was erected in Freelandsville, and in 1874 a more pretentious structure was built. In 1900 the present building, which was remodeled and enlarged in subsequent years. was constructed.
FREELANDSVILLE HIGH SCHOOL.
The schools of Widner are well conducted and carefully supervised by Trustee Dr. R. H. Fox, who meets with much encouragement from his constituents in his efforts to maintain them on a high plane. The Free- landsville schools, of which Ellis I. Thompson is superintendent, ranks with the best in the county. The principal of the high school is J. Robert Over- man, and Ethel E. Byrum is instructor in music and drawing. The inter- mediate and primary grade teachers are Rudolph Koch, H. E. Green, Han- nah Wolfe. Lydia Schulte, Vina Hollingsworth. The teachers in the schools of Widner township outside of Freelandsville are Ora Robbins. Starner, No. 1; Leah McCormick, Light, No. 2; Ruth Simonson, Cham- bers, No. 3; Walter Pielemeire, Tweed, No. 4; W. C. Unverferth, Dick- man, No. 6; Mattic Harber, Sanhedrin, No. 8; Otto C. Stoelting, Ruble, No. 9; Eva llollingsworth, Strate, No. 10.
CHAPTER XXIV.
PROGRESS ALONG THE RELIGIOUS HIGHWAYS.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FIRST CHURCH AND FIRST FORT OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY-THE OLD ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CHURCH-ITS FIRST BISHOPS AND PRIESTS-ITS PRESENT PASTORS-THE RARE AND PRICELESS COLLECTION OF ANCIENT VOLUMES IN THE CATHEDRAL LI- BRARY-BRIEF SKETCHES OF THE CATHOLIC AND PROTESTANT CHURCHES OF VINCENNES, WHERE TIIE LAITY LOOK WITH FAVOR ON ALL FAITIIS- PICTURES OF ST. XAVIER'S, ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST, SACRED HEART, METII- ODIST, BAPTIST, ST. JAMES, CHRISTIAN, FIRST AND BETHANY PRESBYTE- RIAN, ST. JOHN'S EVANGELICAL AND ST. JOHN'S LUTHERAN CHURCHES.
Vincennes could well be called the city of churches, for nearly every denomination has a house of worship, many of which are beautiful and costly edifices, typifying the modern styles of architecture and indicating the advanced ideas and tastes of the people composing the various congre- gations. Historians contend that as early as 1680 priests of great learn- ing, zeal and piety were proclaiming the Word to the Children of the For- ests beneath "God's first temples." In 1712 Father Mermet, a French missionary sent from Canada, was the spiritual adviser of the inhabitants, whose place of worship was on the site of the present Cathedral-a very crude building with rough exterior, and built of upright posts "chuncked and daubed," to use an architectural provincialism of the west. Before this date, however, from the far-away shores of southern France, came the Jesuit Fathers to teach the Catholic religion to savages in a howling wilderness, over-run with wild beasts. The ritual and prayers of the church of that day were manuscripts in Indian and French, executed by the Jesuits of Ouiatanon, a settlement at the mouth of the Wea, just be- low the present city of LaFayette, and a conversational dictionary in the same language (the Miami) made at a very early period. For a time these ancient documents were preserved in the library of St. Francis Xa- vier's Cathedral, but no doubt disappeared with other church papers from among the innumerable volumes of old books that give to the Cathedral library a priceless value.
The first St. Francis Xavier's church was built in 1702 on the site of the present Cathedral, by the priest who accompanied from Canada Sieur
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Juchereau, the builder of the first fort, many Indian converts assisting in its construction. The church and fort were built about the same time, in close proximity to each other, and were both the scenes of incidents that form important chapters in the history of our common country. The fort, before it fell into the hands of the English, bore the name of St. Francis Xavier. From the little church the faithful flock of Father Gi- bault went to the fort to assure Capt. Helm of their fealty to Virginia, and to acknowledge him as its commandant. From the fort General Ham- ilton went to the church to discuss with General Clark articles of capitula- tion under which the wily Briton subsequently surrendered to the gallant American, Sackville, by which name the fort is popularly known.
The first church was built of rough timbers, set in the ground per- pendicularly, the interstices filled with adobe. A single door afforded the only entrance to the building, which was devoid of other openings save a hole in the roof, to allow smoke from log fires to escape. There were no windows in the house, the only light obtainable issuing from tallow candles used on the altar, which cast faint shadows on the earthen floor and across the puncheon benches provided for the worshipers. Divine services were conducted in this crude structure until 1785, the year Father Gibault came to Vincennes for the third time to administer to the spiritual wants of the faithful of his flock, when the second church was built under his supervision. In a letter to the Bishop of Quebec, dated May, 1785, he writes: "A new log church, 90 x 42 feet, has been built and the old church has been fitted up for my use as a pastoral residence." The sec- ond church, which had been materially modified, was maintained as a place of worship up to 1830, or until the present imposing edifice, on the interior of which many thousands of dollars have been expended, was under roof. The present church was founded by Rev. J. B. Champomier, who personally solicited funds for the purpose, and its corner stone was laid in 1826. The walls of the church were completed by the time of the coming of Bishop Simon Gabriel Brute, in 1834. The work of construc- tion, which continued through the reign of several Bishops, was not ac- complished until 1850.
Bishop Bruté was the first Bishop of Vincennes. He was a man of scholarly attainments and a theologian of profound learning, whom Presi- (lent John Quincy Adams classed as "the most learned man of his day in America." He was a graduate of the most celebrated medical school of Paris, from which he received class honors in 1803. After his graduation he was offered the position of chief physician in the Dispensary of Paris, but refused the flattering offer because he had determined to take up the study of theology, in which his mental resourcefulness and great bril- liancy were at once recognized. Time and again he was tendered honored and profitable positions, which he repeatedly refused. He came to Amer- ica with Bishop Flaget in 1810 and was made the Professor of Philosophy in the Seminary of Baltimore. He was transferred to St. Mary's Col-
ST. FRANCIS XAVIER'S CATHEDRAL
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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
lege, near Emmitsburg, Md., in 1812, where his fame as instructor in classical and theological learning won for the institution an eminent place among the first schools in America. He was a man of letters in the full significance of the term. His ancestors were printers to the Kings of France, and he brought with him from his native country a large collec- tion of valuable books, some of which were written (not printed) in the fifteenth century. These ancient publications are among the priceless pos- sessions of the Cathedral, and comprise the rarest and most valuable lit- erary productions to be found in any library in the country. The collec- tion consists of 6,000 or 7.000 volumes, one-half of which were issued, or printed, before the beginning of the eighteenth century. Many of the others were published before the dawn of the nineteenth century, and quite a number were in circulation three centuries earlier, as indicated by the dates they bear, which range from 1476 to 1489. A casual glance at these antiquated volumes, some of which are written on parchment and bound in wood and metal, disclose that the subjects treated are bib- lical, ascetical, didactical, philosophical, descriptive and narrative, canon and civil law, patrology, dogmatic theology, moral theology, biographical, philology, science, governmental reports, historical, apologetical, contro- versal, bibliography, heretical, liturgy, ceremonies, literature, classics, homelitics, voyages, guides, conversational and polemical works. There are also here to be found without number maps, pamphlets and smaller books, which would be attractive on account of age did they possess no other interest. In the biographical section is a volume on Mohamet, pub- lished in 1685. Other pig-skin or board-covered, parchment-bound vol- umes bear dates as early as 1537. Rare historical works are numerous, such as the Jesuit missionaries' letters from China and Japan, 1536-1565 ; those from France, Canada and America are of many dates, reciting the labors of those pious, brave and heroic men among the Indians of North America; the Voyages and Discoveries in New France, by Sieur de Champlain, 1619. In Recuil de Voiages au Nord is recounted the ex- plorations of Pere Hennepin. The second edition of Louis de Pont's Med- itations is dated 1689; Mademoiselle Nabonne is of 1552; an Aristotle, 1606; the Philosophy of Rene Descart, 1650, 1673, 1679; Navarri, 1587. A quaint book is Novum Lexicon in Quo Universi Orbis, printed in 1677. In the philology section may be found dictionaries and grammars in Arabic, English, German, Italian, Hebrew, French, Irish and Latin. An English dictionary, with the queerest of letters and orthography, bears the date of 1633. In the apologetical, polemical, controversial section is a most interesting work, bearing on its title page the following: "The Opening of the Controversies lately handled in the Low Country's Con- cerning the Doctrine of Predestination, of the Death of Christ, of Nature and Grace, by Peter Movlin, Pastor of the Church of Paris-Carefully translated out of the original Latin Copy, 1620." Hundreds of bibles are on the shelves, among them Bible Sacred Hebrew Basil, 1535; Munsteri,
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