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BOOK I,
Chap. II.

LIFE AND
CHARACTER
OF SIR

there is a passage which also implies—though it does not expressly assert that Sir Robert had received from King JAMES a permission to select records, of some kind or other, from the Tower of London, anterior to the qualified Sir E. Coke to permission, above mentioned, given in 1618, to select Sir R. Cotton; autographs' from the Paper Office;

ROBERT

COTTON.

MS. Cott. Julius, ciii (Undated; probably

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IV. It disregards that strong implication of a lawful possession-so far as Sir Robert COTTON, individually, is 1612). (B.M.) concerned-which necessarily arises out of the fact that at Registers of two several periods the Cottonian Library was under the 1616; 1629; sole control and custody of Crown officials; that it 1630 passim remained under such control for an aggregate period of

Privy Council,

(C. O.)

Signs
Manual,

Charles I,

vol. xii, § 15 (R. II.).

e.g. MS.

Harl., 7002,

f.

&c., MS.

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more than two years; that COTTON's bitter enemies were then at the head of affairs; that in 1630 a Royal Commission was actually issued to search what Records or other Papers of State in the custody of Sir Robert COTTON properly belong to His Majesty, and thereof 'to certify;' and that the existing Cottonian MSS., together with those burned in 1732, were, one year after the issue of that Commission, restored by the Crown to Sir Robert COTTON's heirs ;

V. It overlooks the circumstance, vital to the issue now II. 120, 122, raised, that amongst the MSS. which most indubitably were once Crown property many can still be minutely traced from possessor to possessor, prior to their reception into the Cottonian Library;

Cott. Julius cini, passim (B. M.).

And VI. It disregards the fact, hardly less important, that a patriotic statesman conversant both with the arcana of government at large, and with the special arcana of the State Paper Office and Secretary's offices, under King JAMES the First and King CHARLES the First, might have cogent reasons for believing that some important classes of State Papers would be likely to remain much more truly

Chap. II.

and enduringly the property of the English nation if stored BOOK I, up at Cotton House-even had no 'British Museum' ever been created-than if stored up at Whitehall.

Inferences and implications such as these are far from amounting to conclusive proof. But most readers, I think, will assent to the assertion that, cumulatively, they amount to a very strong presumption indeed that the stigma which has been impressed on Sir Robert COTTON's memory is both precipitate and unjust. Precipitate it plainly is, for a confident verdict has virtually been pronouncedupon a grave issue,—before hearing any evidence for the accused. Unjust I, for one, cannot but think it, inasmuch as circumstances which at most are but grounds of mere suspicion of the greater offence charged, have been so huddled up with proofs of a minor and (comparatively) venial offence, that readers giving but ordinary attention to the allegations and their respective evidence are almost certain to be misled.

For, undoubtedly, Sir Robert COTTON stands convicted of dealing, more than once, with manuscripts which he had borrowed very much as though they had been manuscripts which he possessed. Mr. RILEY's testimony is, on this point, conclusive. An independent witness, Dr. Sedgwick SAUNDERS, the able Chairman of the Library Committee of the Corporation of London, tells me that both the returned MS. of Liber Custumarum, and also that of Liber Legum Antiquorum, bear as unmistakable marks of a claim to ownership on Sir Robert's part, as those of which the return was refused.

To such proofs as these I can myself add a new instance. Archbishop LAUD had procured, from the Principal and Fellows of St. John's, the loan to Sir Robert COTTON of a

LIFE AND

CHARACTER
OF SIR
ROBERT
COTTON.

BOOK I,
Chap. II.

LIFE AND
CHARACTER
OF SIR
ROBERT

COTTON.

Archbp.

Laud to Sir

R. Cotton,
MS. Cott.

Julius C., iii,
f. 232.

Bolton to
Camden;
MS. Harl.,
7002, f. 396.

certain ancient Beda MS. of great value. Many years passed, and the MS. had not returned to St. John's. The Fellows cast severe blame on their eminent benefactor. LAUD had to petition his friend COTTON for the return of Beda, in terms almost pathetic; and he was so doubtful whether pathos would suffice that he added bribe to entreaty. If, he said, anything of worth in like kind. come to my hands, I will freely give it you in recompense.'

The reader has seen the abounding proofs of that generous furtherance of every kind of literary effort which COTTON gave, throughout life, with an ungrudging heart and an open hand. Sir ROBERT'S openness made his libraryto use the words of an eminent contemporary-the 'Common treasury' of English antiquities. The reader now sees also the drawback. It remains for him to strike a true balance; and to strike it with justice, but also with charity.

CHAPTER III.

THE CHIEF COLLECTOR AND THE AUGMENTORS
OF THE OLD ROYAL AND PUBLIC LIBRARY
AT ST. JAMES'.

'Death never makes such effectual demonstration of his power, as when he singles out the man who occupies the largest place in public estimation;-as when he seizes upon him whose loss is felt, by thousands, with all the tenderness of a family bereavement ;-puts a sudden arrest, . . . before the infirmities of age had withdrawn him from the labours of usefulness; . . and sends the fearful report of this his achievement through the streets of the city, where it runs, in appalling whispers, among the multitude.'

THOMAS CHALMERS.

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Life of HENRY, Prince of Wales, son of JAMES I, and virtual Founder of the Royal Library.'-Its Augmentors and its Librarians.

-

Acquisition of the
Library of the THEYERS.-Incorporation with the
Collections of COTTON and of SLoane.

HENRY, Prince of Scotland, and afterwards of Wales, was born at Stirling Castle on the 19th of February, 1594. King JAMES had married ANNE of Denmark more than four years before the Prince's birth, but a certain grotesqueness which had marked some of the characteristic circumstances of the marriage in Norway (in 1589) was not without its counterpart among the incidents that came to be attendant on the subsequent event at home. One

BOOK I,

Chap. III.

LIFE OF

HENRY,
PRINCE OF
WALES.

Book I,
Chap. III.

LIFE OF
HENRY,

PRINCE OF

WALES.

PRINCE
HENRY'S

STIRLING.

of these incidents is thus narrated in the quaint narrative of a Scottish courtier who made it his business to chronicle the movements of the Court with newsmanlike fidelity:'Because the chappell royal was ruinous and too little, the King concluded that the old chappell should be utterly rased, and a new [one] erected in the same place that should be more large, long, and glorious, to entertain the great number of strangers' who were expected to be present at the baptism. The interval demanded for the restoration of this decayed chapel at Stirling entailed an unusual delay between the child's birth and his baptism, but it gratified the King by enabling him to send invitations far and wide. Had all of them met with acceptance they would have resulted in the presence of a cloud of witnesses, such as had rarely been seen in Scotland upon any the most famous occasion of courtly rejoicing.

For the presence of two guests in particular JAMES was BAPTISM AT anxious. He wished to see an ambassador extraordinary from the Court of ELIZABETH, and another from that of HENRY THE FOURTH. HENRY Would not gratify his wish, and the omission was much resented. ELIZABETH, on the other hand, was ostentatiously swift to comply, but her willingness was well nigh defeated by one of the common accidents of life. She had fixed her choice on the brilliant Earl of CUMBERLAND, whose love of magnificence was scarcely less prominent than was his love of adventure. He could grace a royal festivity, as conspicuously as he could. lead a band of eager soldiers, or a crew of daring navigators. Just as the Earl's costly preparations for his embassy were completed, he fell sick. Some days were lost in the hope of his speedy recovery, but the Queen was soon obliged to nominate the Earl of SUSSEX in his stead. SUSSEX had then to make preparations in turn. The day

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