printed long before Luther's great translation,--a translation with a special claim to immortality because it may be said to have set the standard for modern German,--were anything but Roman Catholic Bibles. They were translated and illustrated in behalf of no doctrine which Protestantism does not hold in common with the Church of Rome. To lose hold of these things, to lose sight of the true attitude of Holbein in his Bible woodcuts and his "Images of Death," or of either Erasmus or Holbein in their satires on the flagrant abuses within their Church, and their unwavering devotion to that Church,--is to deliberately throw away the clue to the most vital qualities in the work of either, and to the whole course and character of Holbein himself, no less than to that of his lifelong friend and benefactor. * * * * * In 1515 the young painter who had come to Basel to better his fortunes painted a table for Hans Baer's wedding. The bridegroom marched away, carrying the Basel colours, to the bloody field of Marignano (or Melegnano) in this same year, and never came back to sit with his smiling bride around Holbein's most amusing conceits--where "Saint Nobody" was depicted among all the catastrophes of which he is the scapegoat, and a few ordinary trifles--a letter, a pair of spectacles, etc.--were marvellously represented, as if dropped by chance above the painted decorations, so that people were always attempting to pick them up. But Hans Baer's sister had been the first wife of a certain brave comrade--Meyer "of the Hare," who did come back and played an important part in young Holbein's career. Long lost among forgotten rubbish, Hans Baer's table has been unearthed, and is now preserved in the town library at Zurich.