century. It is richly illuminated with a variety | Gothic French, and what adds peculiarly to its of pictorial devices of the most brilliant colors value and gives to it an intrinsic merit far above The initial letters are elegantly embellished with that of any other in his collection, is the fact of curious devices, and are mostly in gold and blue. its being entirely in the autograph of the author, The margins also are beautifully wreathed with Robert Cybole, who styles himself in the coloflowers, spangled with silver and gold, which phon, "Docteur en theologie, et chancellier de give a beautiful and magnificent appearance to notre Dame de Paris." Another French manuthe double-columned page which they encom- script of more modern date, however, is a transpass. The author, Rabanus Maurus, was in 847 cript made in 1627 from the original records, viz. Archbishop of Mentz and one of the most learned "The Register of the Parliament of France," divines in the ninth century. He was born at &c., detailing the marriage ceremonies of all the Mentz in 785 and died in 856, leaving behind a Royal personages of France, from the reign of vast number of works on a variety of subjects, Louis XII. to 1626, and is entitled "Ceremoniea mostly of a scriptural character. de marriage de Roy et autre grand," &c. These historical collections commence with the marriage contract of Louis XII. with Anne de Bretagne in 1498 and are exceedingly minute in their details. Many a fascinating story might be woven from the diversified narratives contained in these pages.

A number of manuscript missals, in Latin, grace his collection. These missals were collections of separate liturgic services for the convenience of the priests, and contain many of the oraisons and ceremonies of Gregory I., and even earlier Popes.

The oldest in Mr. Smets' library was written in 1380, and is a small quarto, of superior execution. It contains twelve miniatures of grouped figures, one of which represents a lady, with a gaily-attired knight; while Death, in the form of a skeleton, steals up behind transfixing her with his dart designed, doubtless, to represent the uncertainty of life. The costume is of the time of Charles V. of France, and seems as outrè to us, as our fashions would have appeared then. The large letters in this, also, are in gold, and the whole profusely ornamented.

The reader who has not made himself familiar with the history of the art of illuminating manuscripts, would suspect us of practising upon his credulity, if we should tell him with what labor one of these curiosities was produced. Years were sometimes consumed in the preparation of a single work. The worthy old ecclesiastics who chiefly devoted themselves to the pursuit, had need certainly to exercise the Christian virtue of patience, in the prosecution of their tasks, for not unfrequently the whole aspect of the material world underwent a change, while the parchment lay unfinished before them. When we consider this striking fact, it will appear still more incredible that thousands and even millions of these MSS.-some of them of a voluminous

Another, the "Antiphonarium Sanctum," a work of the 15th century, is very neatly written on vellum, and contains fifty-four miniatures of Saints, the production of some Flemish artist. character-were written before the invention of On the first page is a large painting of our Saviour, as described by Josephus.

printing. The famous Library of Alexandria which was burnt by the Saracens A. D. 642, contained so immense a number of such works, that we are told the baths of the Caliph Omar were heated six months from the fires that were made of them.

But the most costly and splendid of these devotional works written about 1420, is an elegant octavo volume, containing fourteen of the most finished paintings, representing the Annunciation the appearing of the Angels to the Shepherds, It may, perhaps, be thought an idle speculathe visit of the Magi, the flight into Egypt, &c., tion, at this late period of the world's history, &c. The coloring of these drawings is brilliant, when the clatter of the printing press is heard by and exhibits the freshness of yesterday, while the day and night, all round the globe, to dwell upon lining is accurate and sprightly. The grouping the immense loss to science and literature occaof figures is graceful, the perspective faultless, sioned by this bigoted act of the besotted Eastern monarch. We may, however, venture to say that other causes have since worked as dire a destruction of the records of ancient learning as this great conflagration itself. War, that saddest ordeal through which nations have passed Among his French manuscripts is one written since time began, and the consuming touch of in 1442 entitled " Liure de sainte maditacyone decay have reft us of much of the highest wisen coquois-sance de soymesmes." It is a large dom and the profoundest research of the ancients. thick folio, with parchment leaves, gold aud col- Dr. Stevens mentions, with the regret of the acoured letters, flower embellished margins, and complished and liberal scholar, a few of those the whole elegantly executed. It is written in irretrievable losses which the world has thus ex

and the whole beautiful beyond description. The initials are superbly colored with gold and silver, and blue and carmine; the letters are clear and distinct, the vellum fine, and the work altogether incomparable.

VOL. XVII-80

perienced. The history of Polybius was origin- of Voulvant-and the Monks there present, alially written in forty books, but the first five books enate, and cede to Blomon and his wife, Steonly, and a few other fragments have reached phania, for the consideration of two-pence us. Of the forty-five books of Diodorus Siculus, (" quondam ad censum duorum") the house near but fifteen are extant. Of the eighty volumes of the monastery, in front of the old Almonry, the Dion Cassius, twenty-five remain. Of the one which house has been ceded by her parents on hundred and forty books of Livy, thirty-five only the marriage of the said Stephania to Blomon," are left. The greatest part of Appian's Roman written in 1160. It is in Latin, written in large History is lost; and the five hundred volumes of letters on parchment, about 10 inches square. Varro, "the most learned of the Romans," have dwindled down to a few fragments.

The next we shall specify, is an original deed of gift of certain pasturage from Manasses, Count de Rethel, to the Abbey of Ligny, written in 1194.

A poet, whose own regrets had been excited by the contemplation of these sad losses, thus celebrated the triumph of type over the accidents of time and fate:

The next is a neat and prettily written note, under the seal of St. Peter of Megieres, certifying that Stephen, of St. Marcel, knight, and Ade, his wife, give to Gaucher, Earl of Æthel, Garot de Viler, a woman in their service, in exchange for Bertha, daughter of Hiete, who was woman servant of the Earl of Æthel, dated May, 1255. But the most valuable of these single papers of which he has many elegant and curious specimeus, is an original Bull of Pope Innocent the III., written at Rome on the 24th February, 1212, in the 15th year of his Pontificate. It is six inches square, written in small angular letters, on thick parchment bearing the original fold of the Epistle. This edict was addressed to the Abbots of St. Peter of Laigny, and of Chailly, and to the Dean of Seulis, desiring them to inquire into the matter relative to the expulsion of the Canons, from the monastery of St. Cornelius, at Campeigne, it having been charged against them, that they had destroyed the privileges and other prerogatives of that Church. These written in

"Is it not a proof of the peculiar care of God for his own revelation, that that inspired volume has survived every revolution, outlived every devastation, remained unharmed in every change, in each age, and in all countries; and when every struments of the Roman chancery, derive their other work of antiquity is either lost or mutila-name Bulls, from the Latin Bullæ, a seal or round ted, is still presented to us the same original, drop; some times, however, in the shape of a entire, unpolluted book, which Prophets and heart worn by the young nobility of Rome round Apostles wrote, as they were moved by the Holy their necks, and the edicts of the Pope being Ghost? The wisdom of the world, its philoso-sealed with lead hanging in that form from the phy, its science, its literature, its arts, its history, parchment, obtained the same name. If the all that constituted the glory and greatness of the Bull was one of grace or favour, the seal was suspast, are known to us only through the imperfect pended with silken threads, but if one of justice or fragments which have descended to our times; execution it was hung by a hempen cord. These the Bible only has been preserved entire, the seals bore two aspects, one inscribed with the pure light which has shone from the days of name and title of the Pope, the other bearing the Moses, and which will shine onward undimmed profiles of St. Peter and St. Paul with a cross till lost in the eternal glory of its divine Author."

between them and the letters "S. Pa. and St. Pe." above it. Bulls were not, however, confined to the Roman pontiff, but many documents of State from Emperors, Princes and Nobles were

Science on books now dreads no holy war,
Thus multiplied, and thus dispersed so far,
She smiles exulting, doomed no more to dwell
'Midst moths and cobwebs in a friar's cell:
To see her Livy, and most favoured sons,
The prey of worms and popes, of Goths and Huns;
To mourn, half-eaten Tacitus, thy fate,
The dread of lawless sway, and craft of State,
Her bold machine redeems the patriot's fame
From royal malice, and the bigot's flame;
To bounded thrones displays the legal plan,
And vindicates the dignity of man.

Pursuing the train of thought suggested by the ravages that time has made upon the literature of the past, Dr. Stevens indulges in these excellent reflections on the remarkable preservation of the Bible

But it is proper that we should now recur to Mr. Smets' treasures, from which we have been led away many paragraphs back. Safely packed away in chests of drawers, un-issued under that name till the 13th century, the derneath the book-shelves, are many old parch- Popes only having continued the use of metal ment deeds, grants, &c., which are interesting in seals to the present day. Sometimes the Bullæ, themselves and valuable for their associations. or seals, were of gold, as was the case with the Of the many, we shall notice but a few, and the Bull of Clement VIII., conferring the title of first and oldest is an autograph deed, by which "Defender of the Faith," on Henry VIII., and William, Abbot of Mielleray-and Ralph, Prior the instrument of the German Emperor, Charles

IV., made in 1356, with the consent of the Prin- and golden crozier; to the poor Hermit, with ces of the Empire, is called the Golden Bull, worn sandal, and black cowl, and unshorn beard. from the seal appendant to it. It is full of interest, and the drawings are spirited and accurate. There is the Abbot of the St.

The one possessed by Mr. Smets, is a consistorial bull, or one made in full consistory, such as Norbert-of Ansewyck-of the Holy Trinity and of St. Bernard. There is depicted the Cordelian-the Dominican-the Capuchin—the Carmelite and the Benedictine. They are all beautiful, but the most excellent are the pictures of the Pasteur-the Chapelain, and L'Abbè.

are confined wholly to religious affairs, those of a secular nature being termed Pancarer, or confirmation of grants to the Church; while those relating to the immunities of cathedrals and monasteries, were called Bulls of privilege.

Mr. Smets has also a number of interesting Albums. Not such as loving lasses and sighing swains, deposite their amorous doggrels in; but the Albums of scholars, two centuries old, bearing the inscriptions of some of the most distinguished men in the 17th century.

Descending to modern times, we notice first, an elegant autograph MS. of the Rt. Hon. Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford. This manuscript, contains his "Postscript to the Royal and Noble Authors of England"-Questions proposed to the Antiquarian Society-Garrick's verses on The first we shall notice, is the Album of En- Mr. Gray's ode-Miller's poem to Lady H. Walrieus Stauffer, containing about seventy auto- degrave on the death of the Duke of Ancaster, graphs of illustrious personages. It numbers, verses to Lady Charles Spencer, and a catalogue also, a few exquisite drawings and two embla- of books, and detached pieces, which were printzoned coats-of-arms. It is an oblong duodecimo, ed at the Strawberry Hill press; all in the hand and was begun in 1632. There are passages in writing of Horace Walpole.

it in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Italian and What an autographic treasure! The mere sigGerman; written by Frederic, Duke of Wur-nature of Walpole, would be interesting;-a temburgh, dated 1640; John, Count of Hainault, common letter from his pen, invaluable—but the 1633; John Freinshemmus, a very learned clas-" Postscript, to his noble authors," in nineteen sical scholar and the author of many works; folio pages, his own chirography is a treasure of Mathias Bernegger, Professor of History at Stras-no ordinary worth.

burgh; George Stewart, London; Henry Har- The 1st edition of "His Royal and Noble Aurison, Anglicus Cantabrigiensis, 1633, with many thors," was printed at Strawberry Hill, in 1758, others. and the Postscript in 1790. It is a work of great interest and research, as he carefully gathered up every literary memorial of the Peers and

There is also the interesting Album Amicorum Familiarum Aldari et Fabricii, an oblong quarto. in original binding, containing the autographs of Monarchs of England. Strawberry Hill was the Frederic Spanheim, Professor of Divinity at name of a beautiful villa, at Twickenham, which Leyden; John Fabricius, 1645; John Schmidt, he erected and adorned, in the most recherche 1635; Mathias Nicolai, 1634. The devices which style of Gothic architecture. Devoted to literait contains, are as interesting as its autographs. ry pursuits, he, in 1757, set up a printing press One represents Juno in queenly state, with a at his residence, for his own private purposes, at peacock on one side, and a gazelle on the other. which he published over forty volumes, of fugiAnother is a tilt between two cavaliers, one tive pieces, mostly for private circulation. The armed cap-a-pie with coat of mail-helmet of penmanship is fair, but not beautiful, though the brass and pointed lance; the other, habited in a general appearance of the page is clear, and the monk's cloak, and scholar's hat, and writer's bag, sentences easily read. with a quill in rest, instead of a lance. The An original MS. of Laurence Sterne, the au"Tristram knight of the quill is about unhorsing the knight thor of the "Sentimental Journey,' of the spear, whose staff is broken by the en- Shandy," &c., next demands attention. It is counter, while three angelic beings proclaim the an entire autograph of his "Fragment, in the victory of the scholar, and crown him with tri- manner of Rabelais," one of the most singular, umph. It fills 400 pages and has 41 devices, of his singular works. The manuscript varies some to the full size of the page. materially from the copy, published by his daughter, Mrs. Medall, in 1775, as it contains expressions too coarse for publication. The autograph of this celebrated and eccentric writer is of great rarity. His published works, however, are numerous, but of a very unequal character; mingling with charity and assize sermons, "Yorick's Meditations" on noses and "hobby horses;" on quacks, and "the man in the moon." His life

He has another Album, dated 1560, in which are painted ten armorial bearings, and heraldic designs.

One of the unique volumes of his library is a beautiful vellum duodecimo, containing fifty illuminated paintings, representing the dresses of the different orders of ecclesiastics in the Papal Church; from the Pope, with his scarlet rob

and writings were totally at variance with the profession he espoused, and the sacred things in which he ministered. In 1822, the wig of Sterne was sold in London, at public auction for two hundred guineas, nearly a thousand dollars!

Among other unique volumes of the character to which we have been referring may be found Sir John Herschel's Astronomy, Sir David Brewster's Optics, Sir James Macintosh's Life of Sir Thomas More and Sir Walter Scott's History of Scotland, all in the hand writing of their respective authors. Of the latter work Mr. Smets has (if we may use what may seem a paradoxi

We now notice a volume of wonderful value-a MS. copy of Addison's poems, IN HIS OWN HAND WRITING. On a fly leaf, are the signatures of Charlotte Warwick, and Charlotte Addison, the elegant essayist having married, August 2d, 1716, Charlotte, Countess of Warwick, grand daughter of Sir Orlando Bridgman. The first poem in the book is entitled "Van's house built, from the ruins of white hall, that was burned," written in 1703, referring to the new playhouse in the Haymarket. The minor poems in the volume are "Upon Love;" "When will thy heart grow tender?" written in 1715, during his courtship; for Addison experienced more cal expression) two unique copies, one being the than the common share of a lover's difficulties original MS., and the other a bound volume of in obtaining a bride, and more than the com- the first proofs, with very wide margins which mon share of a lover's disappointment in retain- are filled with autorial notes. ing her "Love's a Dream;" "To Mr. Pope on his second subscription of Homer;" "A Riddle upon Coals;" "Death makes all equal;" "A Riddle upon a shadow;" "Apollo once to Venus sued;" A beautiful apologue on Love in the autograph of his daughter, who writes in the margin "Papa's works," and an inscription upon the tomb of Edward, Henry; Earl of Warwick, and Holland, who died August 15th, 1721, aged 24 years.

One of the most exquisite specimens of caligraphy we have ever seen Mr. Smets possesses in the shape of a book of travels-Memoire de

no less a person than Robert Southey. There is not an erasure nor an interlineation from the

page to the end of this MS., and the text may be read with as much ease as if it were in the boldest type of the Longmans.

During Addison's life, Warwick was a disso-la Campagne en Portugal L'an 1762—copied by Jute and intractable pupil, but the death bed of his tutor in 1719, who, calling him to his side, said, "I have sent for you, that you may see how a Christian can die," produced a happy reformation, which death soon sealed. Had we room, we would gladly copy several of these pieces, but shall merely give one which is at this moment before us, Mr. Smets having, with characteristic generosity, given us a leaf from the volume, which, of course, we treasure most highly. The poem we give seems to have been written hastily, though the penmanship is legible and fair throughout. It is, as the reader will perceive, a madrigal and by consequence can not express any of the more striking features of the author.

Lastly, of the MS. works we shall mention a series of thirty-one volumes of autograph notes and letters of distinguished men and women, which series came from the immense collection of the late Mr. Upcott. Each volume contains the portraits of the individuals, and an index to the letters which are arranged in alphabetical order.

I.

Chaste Lucretia, when you left me,
You of all that's dear bereft me,
Tho' I show'd no discontent;
Grief's the longest and the strongest
When too great to find a vent,
How much fiercer is the anguish
When we most in secret languish,
Silent water's deepest found,
Noisy grieving is deceiving,
Empty vessels make most sound.

II.

Had I words that could reveal it
Yet most wisely I'd conceal it,
Tho' the question be but fair,
Grief and merits, love and spirits
Ever lose by taking air,
Guardian angels still defend you,
And surprising joys attend you,
Whilst I like the winter sun,
Faintly shining and declining,
Tell thou charming spring return.

We may also notice a little volume, curious in itself and invaluable as containing the autograph of Allan Ramsay, the Scotch Poet, entitled, "Journal of the Easy Club." This Club was established in Edinburgh in 1712, and numbered among its members many of the chief wits and poets of the time.

But we must stop. Our limits have been exceeded even before getting through with those treasures of Mr. Smets which are in writing. We shall be compelled to defer a notice of his other volumes, which illustrate the rise and progress of the art of printing, until some future time.

PEDIGREE.-Thierry derives this word from pedes, feet, and grus, a crane; on account of the resemblance of genealogical trees to the feet of a crane. The "proud duke" of Somerset, as he was called, used to say that he pitied Adam, because he had no ancestors.