LIBRARY OF THE DUKE OF SUSSEX. A work is now in preparation under the superintendence of Mr. Pettigrew, Librarian of the Duke of Sussex, entitled, " A Catalogue of the singularly rare and valuable Collection of MSS. and Books contained in the Library of the Duke of Sussex, at Kensington Palace."

The first part of the first volume is devoted to the description of the Theological MSS. of which there are nearly 300, and chiefly of the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries, though some of them are as early as the tenth. Those maBuscripts are in various languages :-Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Freuch, Italian, Spanish, German, Dutch, English, Irish, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, Pali, Singhalese, and Burman.

The Hebrew Manuscripts are 44 in number, and some of them are of very great value. The Pentateuchs on African and Basil skins are considered the finest in the country. One of them measures 144 feet in length, 23 inches in breadth, consists of 72 skins, and is arranged in 263 columns, each of which has 42 lines. The History of the Hebrew MSS. is a curious narrative respecting the Hebrew MSS. of the Bible, of the manner directed to be written, and of the rules laid down by the Jews with respect to their manuscripts, by which the integrity of the text may be preserved. The character of the Hebrew MSS. is arranged under the divisions of Spanish, Italian, and German, the former of which is designated as the most beautiful. In the collection, there are two complete Hebrew MSS. of the Bible, one of the 13th, the other of the 15th century, the latter with illuminations. There are also three Pentateuchs, various commeutaries and Rabbinical and Cabalistic works. There is a Pentateuch of the 13th century, in Hebrew and Chaldee, accompanied by illuminations of an exceedingly curious nature, and of which fine fac-similes (by G. Cruikshank) are given. All the terms peculiar to MSS. are also detailed and explained.

Among the Greek Manuscripts, there is one of the New Testament of the 13th century, which contains the whole of the books, with the exception of the Apocalypse. Some of the readings peculiar to this MS. are noticed, and a facsimile is given of the first page of the Gospel of St. Matthew, together with an illumination, ably executed by Mr. Harris in lithography. There are also various Greek MSS. of the Fathers of the Church, and among the Homilies of St. Chrysostom is that which was personally directed against the Empress Eudoxia, wife of Arcadius, whom he depicts as Herodias, and for which he was degraded from his episcopal dignity, and banished from Constantinople. Biographical sketches of the Fathers accompany the notice of the several MSS.

The Latin Manuscripts are both numerous and of great rarity. There are sixteen MSS. of the Vulgate, enriched with the most splendid illuminations. There are two MSS. of the Bible allegorised in Latin verses, some of which are in rhyme. The whole is included under the title of "Aurora," which title Mr. Pettigrew conceives is probably intended to allude to the light supposed to be thrown on the obscure passages of Scripture by the allegorical mode of interpretation. Specimens of such work are given in this Catalogue. It is attributed to Petrus de Riga, a Canon of Rheims, who flourished under the Emperor Frederick I. There are various MSS. of several of the Books of the Old and New Testaments, and some very fine Psalters. Illustrative of one of the tenth century, it being remarkably curious, there are three plates of facsimiles. The Commentaries by the Fathers are of early date and numerous. There is a MS. Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, by the venerable Bede, which was made about the year 1480, for Ferdinand, King of Castile. Of the MSS. of the Latin Fathers, those of St. Austin, St. Athanasius, and St. Ambrose, are the most numerous. There is a MS. of the celebrated work of Servetus, "Christianismi Restitutio," and a very interesting memoir of the unfortunate author.

The department of Missals, Breviaries, Books of Offices, &c. is very rich; and considerable service is rendered by the Author pointing out the contents of these various services of the Roman Church, which are so frequently confounded by collectors of rare and curious books.

The French Manuscripts are especially distinguished by a Commentary on the Bible, intitled, "La Bible Moralizée," from the Townley collection. The illuminations in this volume are in chiaro oscuro. A fine folio MS. of "The Golden Legend," is remarkable, as showing the various stages of the illuminative art. In the Italian Manuscripts, there is a very curious History of the Old Testament, enriched with 519 paintings. It forms a kind of Biblia Pauperum, and belongs to the 15th century. This article is accompanied by four fac-similes of the costume of the period. The Spanish, German, and Dutch MSS. follow next.

In the English Manuscripts there is a paraphrase on the Book of Job, by George Sandys, who was Gentleman of the Chamber to Charles I., and pronounced by Dryden to have been the first versifier of the age. There is a curious Irish Manuscript, intitled "The Three Shafts of Death," by Dr. Geoffrey Keating, the author of History of Ireland."

a

The Arabic Manuscripts relate to the Koran, of which a very interesting account is given; and a splendid one, which formerly belonged to Tippoo Saib, is particularly described. There is a Persian Manuscript

of the Gospels, and an Armenian MS. of the same, with singularly beautifu! illuminations. This is of the 13th century, upon vellum, and is, perhaps, the most valuable Armenian MS. in the country. They are of exceeding rarity. The MSS. in the Pali, Singhalese, and Burman languages, conclude the first part of the first volume. The MSS. in the square Pali character, obtained from Rangoon, are, if not unique, the finest in this country. They are of the most splendid description, and one of them is upon plates of ivory. The letters are in Japan, and richly ornamented with gold. Mr. Pettigrew gives an account of the Pali language, and fully describes the MSS.

AILEEN AROON.

The origin of this beautiful Irish air, which was first introduced to the British public a few years ago (most unfairly) as a Scotch melody, by the name of "Robin Adair," is thus historically and correctly related in a new publication.

"Carol More O'Daly (brother to Do nogh, a turbulent Connaught Chieftain, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth) was one of the most accomplished gentlemen of his time, and particularly excelled in poetry and music. He paid his addresses to Ellen, the daughter of a chieftain named Cavanagh, a lovely and amiable young lady, who returned his affection, but her friends disapproved of the connexion. O'Daly was obliged to leave the country for some time, and they availed themselves of the opportunity which his absence afforded them, of impressing on the mind of Ellen a belief of his falsehood, and of his having gone to he married to another; after some time they prevailed on her to consent to marry a rival of O'Daly. The day was fixed for the nuptials, but O'Daly returned the evening before. Under the first impression of his feelings, he sought a wild and sequestered spot on the sea-shore, and, inspired by love, composed the song of Aileen Aroon. Disguised as a harper, he, next night, gained access among the crowd that thronged to the wedding. It happened that he was called on by Helen herself to play. It was then, touching his harp with all the pathetic sensibility which the interesting occasion inspired, he infused his own feelings into the song he had composed, and breathed into his softened strain the very soul of pensive melody. It began "dtincfa tu no a bhfanna tu Aileen Aroon," "Will you stay or come with me, Ellen my dear' Ellen soon felt its force, and "contrived to elope with him that very night."

Handel declared he would rather have been the author of this air than of all the music he had ever composed. And so enchanted was Signor Tenducci, a distinguished Italian singer, who assisted at the Italian Operas in Dublin, with it, that he

resolved upon studying the Irish language, and become a perfect master of it.

ON PLANTING.

The following paper, written by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, Bart. was read at the late meeting of the Bath and West of England Society:

In the year 1814, I submitted to your notice the profits of a certain piece of land, containing three quarters of an acre, which had been planted with Scotch and Spruce Fir Trees, on a soil so shallow that the roots were obliged to spread themselves along the surface of the ground, in order to obtain nourishment beneath. But to show that no soil is too poor for some kind of cultivation, this barren spot, when the fir-trees were cut down, after a growth of fifty-five years, averaged from the time of their planting, to that of their downfall, the sum of 61. 10s. 10d. per annum for the three roods; and would have produced more, had the trees been properly trained and pruned when young.

Since that period, having a large space of vacant poor land on my estate, have allotted it to plantations of various kinds, but chiefly to copses, as being more perma nent than plantations of fir-trees, which only live for a certain number of years. In these I have abandoned the spade in tolo, and have taken for its substitute an instrument first used, and I believe invented by Mr Monro, who formerly was employed in Sweet's nursery grounds at Clifton.

We are apt to be prejudiced against any new inventions of the present day, so many having failed; but after the experience of seven years, I can safely recommend this instrument, as far preferable in every point of view to the spade, having planted half a million of various kinds of trees with it, all of which have succeeded aud flourished to my satisfaction. Its form is very simple, and the only alteration I have made in Monro's instrument, is in bending the iron shaft to a curve, instead of leaving it straight. The mode of using it is as follows: one man employs the instrument, while another man or boy holds a bundle of plants. The man first inserts the instrument in the soil, holding it up for the reception of the plants, which, when done, he inserts the iron three times round the plant, in order to loosen the soil about the roots, then treads down the turf, and the plant becomes as firm set in the ground as if it had been long planted. Two men will plant in one day from five to six hundred, at 1s. per hundred; whereas, by digging holes, the expence would be 3s. per bundred, and the planting not done so well. This instrument is particularly suited to stony or rough furzy ground, where holedigging is difficult; but in ground that has been cultivated, it will not succeed so well, the soil being too loose.

I have also tried another mode of planting copses, i. e. by the plough, which has answered very well, and is a cheap method. The plough raises one furrow, a man follows, placing the plants along it; on returning, the ploughi throws another furrow over the plant, which covers the roots. The next process is to tread the plants down. I have a most beautiful copse of hazel wood planted in this way. In a late extensive plantation of 70 acres, I have adopted the plan recommended by Mr. Pontey, of larch with an intermixture of oak, which seems to answer very well; the larch protect the oak, and when cut down, the intervals may be filled up with copse wood, and a permaneut wood obtained.

ROYAL VAULT AT WINDSOR. Adjoining to the east end of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, is a free-stone edifice, built by Henry VII. as a burial-place for himself and his successors; but this Prince afterwards altering his purpose, began the more noble structure at Westminster, and this fabric remained neglected until Cardinal Wolsey obtained a grant of it from Henry VIII. Wolsey, with a profusion of expense unknown to former ages, designed and begun a most sumptuous monument for himself, from whence this building obtained the name of Wolsey's Tomb-house. This monument was so magnificently built, that Lord Bacon in his life of Henry VIII. says, it far exceeded that of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey; and at the time of the Cardinal's disgrace, the tomb was so far executed, that Benedetto, a statuary of Florence, received 4,250 ducats for what he had already done, and 380l. 13s. sterling had been paid for gilding only one half of this sumptuous monument. The Cardinal dying soon after his rethement from Court, was privately buried in one of the abbey chapels at Leicester, and the monument remained unfinished. In 1646 it became the plunder of the rebels, and the statues and the figures of gilt copper, of exquisite workmanship, made for the ornament of the the tomb, were sold to carry on the rebellion. King James II. converted this building into a Popish chapel, and mass was publicly performed here. The ceiling was executed by Verrio, who is allowed to have here excelled his other performances. The walls were finely ornamented and painted; but it remained entirely neglected ever since the reign of James II., and made a most ruinous appearance till the summer of the year 1800, when his late Majesty ordered the windows and other external parts to be repaired. Whatever might have been his Majesty's intentions at that time, nothing further was carried into execution till 1810, when it was determined to construct within its walls a Royal dormitory. The work

men employed in removing the earth for this purpose, discovered two coffins in a stone recess about three feet below the surface; one containing the remains of Elizabeth Wydville, Queen of Edward IV.; the other those of George, the third son of the said King and Queen. From hence it is evident, that the former conjectures concerning the remains of Elizabeth Wydville being deposited in the tomb of Edward IV. are

erroneous.

In front of the east end of the

Royal vault, in which five niches are situated, and enclosing compartments within one of the massive Gothic columns. at each side, is placed a railing, within which the remains of the late King's own family are to be deposited.

In the nicbe nearest the centre his late Majesty lies; in the niche immediately adjoining, ou the right hand, is Queen Charlotte's coffin; on the left of the late King's is the Princess Amelia's.

MEDICO-BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.

At the first Meeting of the seventh Session of the Society, holden on the 13th Oct. 1826, Sir James M'Grigor, M. D. F.R.S. K.C.T.S. President, in the Chair, the Secretary announced that his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence and St. Andrews, K.G. K.T. F.S.A. and Admiral of the Fleet, had honoured the Society by becoming one of the patrons. The Director (Mr. Frost) delivered an oration, in which he explained the benefits derived from the Institution, concluding with the mention of an order lately issued by their excellent President, the Director-General of the Army Medical Board, by which all Candidates for situations in his department were enjoined to produce certificates of their having attended lectures on botany for at least six months previous to their exami

nation.

Letters from Barons Humboldt, Férussac, and Jacquin, and Professors Desfontaines and Wyttenbach, returning thanks for being elected Corresponding Members, were read.

At the second meeting of the Session, holden on the 10th of November, 1826, a paper by John Frost, Esq. F.S.Á. F.L.S. was read, in which the author demonstrated that the plant yielding the Ipecacuana of Commerce was a species of Ionia Pers. and not of Calicocca or Psycotria, &c. as many botanists had maintained.

A paper on the various uses of Menyanthes Trifoliata, by J. P. Yosy, Esq. was read on the 8th of December.

The Anniversary Dinner of the Society, which was to have been celebrated on the 16th day of January, has, in consequence of the lamented death of the first Patron of the Society, his Royal Highness the Duke of York, been postponed to Saturday the 10th day of February.

COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.

It is confidently reported, that a general meeting of the Medical Faculty will shortly take place, to petition Parliament for the establishment of a College of the "Faculty of Medicine" on a new and more enlarged scale; to rescind the old and obsolete laws of the present College; and to join the medical, pharmaceutical, and surgical professions into one and the same calling, so that there should be no distinction between physician and surgeon; just as it is now at Paris and at Edinburgh: it is the general opinion of all that the separation of the three branches is injurious to all, and is the real reason why it has become the fashion to employ the Apothecary, who unites all three, to the almost total exclusion of the Physician, who professes but one.

ST. DAVID'S COLLEGE.

since

This College, which was founded in 1822 by the present Bishop of Salisbury, at Llampeter, in Cardiganshire, for the benefit of the clergy in South Wales, the poverty of whose preferment precludes them from the advantages of a University education, is to be opened by the Bishop of St. David's in the month of February, when it will be incorporated by Royal Charter. It is calculated to accommodate about seventy students, and the Bishop of St. David's intends to admit persons from any part of the kingdom, provided they be members of the Church of England. The annual expense will, it is expected, be within 55l. A valuable collection of books has been presented to it by the Bishop of Salisbury, to which many of the Colleges and members of the University of Oxford have liberally contributed. A Grace has also passed the Senate at Cambridge University to give it a copy of all books that have been printed at its expense or are now in the press. The Rev. Llewellin Lewelliu, M. A. of Jesus College, Oxford, has been appointed Principal, and the Rev. Alfred Ollivant, M.A. Fellow of Trinity College, Vice Principal and Senior

Tutor.

ATHENIAN SOCIETY.

This Society resolved, at a late meeting at the Crown and Anchor, to give a gold medal, value 201. to the Schoolmaster or Goveruess in any part of the United Kingdom, who, within the year 1827, educates the greatest number of pupils according to the Interrogative System; also to give a purse of ten guineas for the best written Report on the comparative effects of this system of instruction, on not less than twenty pupils, the same to be printed for distribution; and another purse of ten gnineas for the best Essay on the practical modes of improving the tempers and moral habits of children.

PHRENOLOGY.

In the "Lancet," No. 176, just published, in which Messrs. Gall, Spurzheim, Forster, Abernethy, and the Members of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, are submitted to so much raillery on account of phrenological opinions, it is omitted to be stated, and ought to have been as a matter of justice to the Craniologists, that those very persons who had been almost persecutors of the Anatomists of the Phrenological School in 1816, were in 1826 the warmest advocates of Phrenology; and that at Edinburgh not only professors of anatomy at the present moment, but doctors of medicine, lawyers, and even shopkeepers, carry craniometers about in their pockets to measure heads with, the new science being quite the rage of the Scotch University.

ANCIENT TOMBS OF GERMANY.

A work, written in the fourteenth century by a nun of the convent of Gunsthersthal, fell a short time since into the hands of Dr. Schreiber, a German Antiquary of much celebrity. In this book, designed only as complete catalogue of the revenues of the convent, were numerous remarks, &c. of the highest importance to history and archæology; with one branch of the objects thus pointed out, Dr. S. has been particularly occupied-it concerns the Hünengroeber, or ancient tombs. Many rents were specified as arising from lands in the neighbourhood Now it was known of these monuments. that there were many of them in the North of Germany, but none has yet been discovered in Fribourg nor the southern provinces.

Mr. Schreiber's first researches were fruitless: what in the fourteenth century was a common direction, could no longer be followed; but at length, at Elringen, on a piece of ground belonging to an ancient family, which had been pointed out as appertaining to the convent, a plough struck upon some tombs, the objects of the Doctor's inquiry. They occupy a space of 362 paces in circumference, and there are more than forty rows of burying-places. It is evident that formerly there rose above the ground some monuments which showed their exact situation. The number of tombs examined was 106 (of which forty-five were of men, forty-four women, and seventeen children), and it is presumed there are about as many more. They contained neither inscriptions nor any vestige of characters; but what was especially worthy of remark, charcoal was spread over the corpses, as if its antiseptic properties were even then known. There are some fragments of pottery, but very much injured; and a small piece of glass was found ornamented with plates of silver, but there were neither stone nor brazen vases.

Lines on hearing of the Death of
JOHN NICHOLS, Esq.

AND is thy spirit fled? thou honoured

sage,

Whose lamp illumed so long the passing age.
Blest with a temper whose unclouded ray
"Could make to-morrow cheerful as to-
day,"

In calm enjoyment of domestic peace,
Thy mental energies knew no decrease.
Tho' time and toil had dimmed the visual
ray,

Yet FILIAL love did half the loss
repay.
Preserv'd, like Milton's muse, by FILIAL
hands,

Each thought, each word, each valued record stands.

Like the great Bard was he with daughters

blest,

Chance-no, benignant PROVIDENCE was there,

And led him to a noble Patron's care,
Plac'd him at ease, and, as the Sire began,
The virtuous Son fulfill'd the generous plan.
GIFFORD with grateful zeal beheld the Youth,
And train'd him soon to learning, wisdom,
truth.

While station'd thus, with every want sup

ply'd,

No change of fortune rais'd unseemly pride,
O'er former woes he cast no specious veil,
But told himself the sad eventful talet,
Remembering still his youth's oppressive
load,
stow'd.
And all the kindness Friendship then be-
Alas! what ills on human-kind await-
For Genius and for Learning wreath'd by
While happy thus amid the smiles of fate,
Fame,

Disease, with undermining venom, came;
And yet its course his patience ne'er subdued,
But all was borne with Christian fortitude.
Mild was his temper;-if severe his pen,
"Twas only aim'd at vain and vicious men;
Firm to support those principles alone,
That shield the People and uphold the
Throne.

In him the Critic, Scholar, Bard, combin'd
With zeal intrepid, and a candid mind.
False Taste he ridicul'd and drove her
hence,

A triumph well achiev'd by manly sense.
At last exhausted, Death then hov'ring near,
The patient suff'rer saw him not with fear,
Calmly declar'd his readiness to die,
And left the world without a parting sigh.