e written in the same
language," he answered. "In those days learning was not for the general
public. There was no such spirit of democracy known as now exists. It
cheapened a thing to have it within the reach of the vulgar herd. Even
Horace, much as we honor him, once complained because some of his odes
had strayed into the hands of the common people 'for whom they were not
intended.' Books, in the olden time, were held to be for only the
fortunate few. The educated class considered a little learning a
dangerous thing. If the people got to know too much they were liable to
become unruly and less easy to handle. Therefore books were kept out of
their reach. In Germany there was even a large fine and the penalty of
imprisonment imposed on any one who printed, published, or bought a book
translated from the Latin or Greek unless such translation had
previously been censored by the authorities. Hence the people who could
not read the languages were entirely cut off from all literature."

"I never heard of such a thing!" exclaimed Paul indignantly.

"No, you never did, thank God! We live in an age and a country of
freedom. But the world has not always been so easy or so comfortable a
place to live in as it is now."

Mr. Cameron touched the manuscript before him daintily with his finger,
betraying by the gesture the reverence of the true book-lover.

"This book," he remarked, "is, as you see, done on vellum. Most of the
illuminators of ancient books preferred that material for their work.
Papyrus such as the Romans used was too brittle to be folded or sewed,
and therefore could not be bound into book form; it had to be rolled on
rollers, and even then was liable to crack. It was far too perishable
for bookmaking. Hence the old scribes turned to vellum, or sheepskin.
But later, when the printing press came along, vellum became very
unpopular indeed, because the grease in the skin spread the ink or else
would not absorb it, and the harsh surface destroyed the type. Even had
these difficulties not arisen, vellum would have had to be abandoned
since the number of skins demanded for the making of a thick book was
prohibitive. Imagine three hundred unlucky sheep offering up their
skins in order to produce one of the first printed Bibles!"

"Great Scott!" Paul whistled, regarding his father with incredulity.

"I was as surprised as you when I read the statement," declared his
father. "At that rate, where would the sheep be in