By DR. PAUL CARUS Pocket Edition. Illustrated. Cloth, $1.00; flexible leather, $1.50 This edition is a photographic reproduction of the edition de luxe which was printed in Leipsic in 1913 and ready for shipment in time to be caught by the embargo Great Britain put on all articles exported from Germany. Luckily two copies of the above edition escaped, and these were used to make the photographic reproduction of this latest edition. While the Buddhist Bible could not in any way be considered a contraband of war yet the publishers were forced to hold back many hundred orders for the book on account of orders in council of Great Britain. When the book was first published His Majesty, the King of Siam, sent the following communication through his private secretary: "Dear Sir: I am commanded by His Most Gracious Majesty, the King of Siam, to acknowledge, with many thanks, the receipt of your letter and the book, The Gospel of Buddha, which he esteems very much; and he expresses his sincerest thanks for the very hard and difficult task of compilation you have considerately undertaken in the interest of our religion. I avail myself of this favorable opportunity to wish the book every success." His Royal Highness, Prince Chandradat Chudhadharn, official delegate of Siamese Buddhism to the Chicago Parliament of Religions, writes: "As regards the contents of the book, and as far as I could see, it is one of the best Buddhist Scriptures ever published. Those who wish to know the life of Buddha and the spirit of his Dharma may be recommended to read this work which is so ably edited that it comprises almost all knowledge of Buddhism itself." The book has been introduced as a reader in private Buddhist schools of Ceylon. Mrs. Marie H. Higgins, Principal of the Musaeus School and Orphanage for Buddhist Girls, Cinnamon Gardens, Ceylon, writes as follows: "It is the best work I have read on Buddhism. This opinion is endorsed by all who read it here. I propose to make it a text-book of study for my girls." THE OPEN COURT PUBLISHING COMPANY 122 S. MICHIGAN AVENUE CHICAGO ILLINOIS JOHANN JOACHIM WINCKELMANN. Born December 9, 1717. Murdered at Trieste, June 8, 1768. Frontispiece to The Open Court. A MONTHLY MAGAZINE Devoted to the Science of Religion, the Religion of Science, and the Extension of the Religious Parliament Idea. VOL. XXXII (No. 2) FEBRUARY, 1918 Copyright by The Open Court Publishing Company, 1918 NO. 741 BIBLE-READING AND RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. IRR FROM THE CATHOLIC POINT OF VIEW. RRELIGION and religious indifference are gaining day by day an increasingly firmer hold upon society here in America. The archbishop of Chicago has characterized the present situation very well in these words: "Money, pleasures, and material possessions are very often worshipped to-day as the only gods" November 30, 1916). It seems to me that we are reverting to the Greek type of paganism, and that to guard our own society from this dreadful relapse is the most sacred duty of all religious men and women. Therefore all attempts to uplift the religious life of our people, no matter whence they originate, should be highly appreciated and recognized as worthy of all praise. To preserve and foster the religious life in people who cannot affiliate with any religious denomination, to create a true Science of Religion, is the commendable purpose of The Open Court. Our public schools have been made non-sectarian by legislative act. There can be no question of promoting religious life in these schools at present, and in certain quarters Bible-reading has been recommended to remedy the defect-Bible-reading as it is practised by certain Protestant denominations. The question now arises whether Catholic pupils can take part in this reading without doing violence to their religious convictions. The Catholic Church is not only catholic because it is destined for all ages, nations and civilizations and can be adapted to them, but also in the sense that it is destined to satisfy the deepest needs of the heart, mind, reason and will of all humanity. Therefore it is firmly convinced that it possesses the loftiest of all truth and ethics and the most perfect good. Accordingly, in the first place, the Catholic Church cannot be indifferent to the intellectual attitude of |