Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 3.djvu/398

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CAREY


346


CARET


pilgrims to the Holy Land, according to which 'Ain Karim was revered, at least during the Middle Ages, as the birthplace of the Precursor. In most of the descriptions given by travellers the place is called St. John, the home of Zachary, etc., but it is described as located about five miles west of Jerusalem, and this corresponds well with the location of 'Ain Karim. Besides, the characteristic features of the modern town are recognizable in the various descriptions. A text of the monk Epiphanius (Descriptio Terrte Sancts, C'XX. 264), whom Rohricht (Bibliotheca Geographica Palestinse, Berlin. 1890, p. 16) assigns to the middle of the ninth century, shows that the tradi- tion is at least of earlier origin than the time of the < Jrusai les. This writer calls the birthplace of the Pre- cursor "Carmelion", a name evidently derived from i anil!, and locates it about six miles west of the Holy City, and about eighteen miles from Amoas (Em- maus). Against this nearly unanimous agreement of medieval descriptions there are recorded only two or three dissenting texts, and the.se being associated with erratic topographical statements concerning other lo- calities have little weight against the existing tradi- tion.

A far stronger objection is deduced from the silence of early writers, notably i>f St. Jerome, who wrote an ex professo treatise on the Biblical places of the Holy Land; and, as a matter of fact, the tradition concerning 'Ain Karim has never been recognized as conclusive by the scholars, either ancient or modern, who have written commentaries on the New Testa- ment. Thus (1) the chief commentators of the me- dieval period, understanding the words of St. Luke in a determined sense, viz. the city of Juda", re- ferred them to Jerusalem, the city of Juda par excel- lence, giving to the word Juda a somewhat wide and indefinite meaning. This opinion was given up by nearly all later scholars. (2) Baronius, Papebroch, Cornelius a Lapide, and after them a great number of others, have for much better reasons identified the city of the ' ' hill country " with Hebron, the most cele- brated and important of the cities originally within the confines of Juda; Jerusalem, strictly speaking, belonged to Benjamin. But this opinion also has been abandoned by the majority of modern commen- l at ors. (3) Other writers, following a conjecture of Reland (Palsestina ex monumentis veteribus illus- trata, Utrecht, 1714, p. S70). take the word 'lovSa in this instance to be a proper name, and identify it with Jota or Jeta, a levitical town of Juda mentioned in the Book of Josue (Jos., xv, 55; xxi, 16). This opinion, though lacking positive historical evidence, has been followed not only by the majority of Protes- tant commentators, but also by not a few Catholic scholars, for instance the Abbe Constant Fouard in his work "Christ the Son of God" (London, New York, 1891). Nevertheless, some modern Catholic writers, among whom is Victor Guerin, still adhere to the tradition of 'Ain Karim; but in the absence of positive early documentary evidence the controversy cannot be definitely settled.

Heidbt in Via., Diet, de la Bible, s. v.

James F. Driscoll.

Carey, Mathew, author and publisher, b. in Dublin, Ireland, 28 January. 1760; d. in Philadelphia, U. S. V. I"i September, 1839. He was the first Cath- olic of prominence in the publishing trade in the United States, and brought out in 1790 the first edi- tion of the Douay Bible printed in America. His father was a baker who acquired a small fortune. In early youth Mathew was a dull pupil, but later ex- hibited remarkable ability in languages and mathe- matics. When fifteen years of age he disappointed his father by deciding to be a book seller and printer, and began .it once to learn the business as an appren- tice. He was an omnivorous reader and acquired a


fund of knowledge through persistent application to study. His first article, published in the " Hibernian Journal" in 1777, was on duelling. A duel fought by one of Carey's friends suggested the article which was a strong argument against this means of settling dif- ferences. In 1779 he published a pamphlet on the "Urgent Necessity of an Immediate Repeal of the Whole Penal Code against Roman Catholics". Before its publication the work was advertised and the pref- ace, which was a radical statement of the situation, was printed. The pamphlet was regarded by Parlia- ment as an evidence of the seditious character of the Irish people. The leaders of the Catholic party in Dublin, who hoped for favourable legislation from Parliament at this time, took up the matter, offered forty pounds for the detection of the author and made arrangements for his prosecution in the event of his capture. Carey escaped to France where he remained a year. While there he met Lafayette and worked for a time in the printing office of Franklin at Paris. After his return to Ireland he conducted the Dublin "Freeman's Journal". With funds supplied by his father he founded in 1783 the "Volunteers Journal". "The object of the paper", to use his own words, "was to defend the commerce, the manufactures. and the political rights of Ireland against the oppres- sion and encroachment of Great Britain." It was a radical paper suited to the temper of the times, and did much to form public opinion. On 5 April. 17M, an article attacking Parliament and the Premier was published. For this Carey was arrested, tried before Parliament, and sent to Newgate. When Parliament was dissolved he was released. He then accepted the advice of his friends, left Ireland in disguise and emi- grated to America, landing in Philadelphia.

Lafayette visited him in Philadelphia and gave him S400 to establish the "Pennsylvania Herald". He began to publish the debates of the House of As- sembly in 1785 from notes he took himself, and as this was an innovation in the newspaper business in Amer- ica, the paper immediately had a large circulation. There was great political bitterness at this time in Pennsylvania, between the Constitutionals and the Republicans. Carey became one of the leading advo- cates of the Constitutionals, and Oswald, who pub- lished the "Independent Gazetteer", was t he mouth- piece of the Republicans. The foreigners in America were generally on the side of the Constitutionals. Through his paper Oswald attacked them and Carey became their defender. As a result of a personal at- tack by Oswald, Carey challenged him to a duel. It was fought in New Jersey, and Carey was seriously wounded. It is strange, as Carey admits in his auto- biography, that he should have been led to fight a duel after he had denounced duelling in his earliest essay. In partnership with five others he began the "Columbian Magazine" in 17S6. The discordant views of the publishers and the small profits accruing to the proprietors led Carey to withdraw from the enterprise within a year. In January, 1787, he began the publication of the "American Museum" which continued until December, 1792. It was dedicated to "Dr. Carroll, Bishop-elect of the Catholic Church." and contained no essays of the editor, but was filled with valuable articles from papers and documents which were deemed of general interest and worthy of preservation. It was not a financial success. After quitting the " Museum" he began on a small scale the business of book-selling and printing, to which he de- voted himself closely for over twenty-five years, aban- doning it tilt ogetherin 1821. In 1793 the yellow fever epidemic broke out in Philadelphia, and he was ap- pointed a member of the Committee of Health to de- vise means for the relief of the sufferers. He applied himself in a painstaking way to arrest the spread of the disease and published the results of his investiga- tions in a volume on the " Rise, Progress, Effects, and