The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-05-06

Correspondence Of Springfield (AIa..) Republican


Britain than the British Museum. do not say
there are not those, the nobleness-in every best
sense Of the word-of which may surpass this, out
upon the converse of the lea taIionis principle
upon the doctrine of the speak we'll Of the bridge
that carries you safe over-I am bound to say thus
much. Here IL Sir Hans Sloane, London Phya-
clan who died hundred y YEA in The 81 rss~ Of
Queen Anne, Major Arthur Edwards ROBERT mar
lev, Earl Of Oxford, the Duchess OF Portland.
George the Fourth, the British Parlament ana
whose specific purpose life, 20 Tar asl can see with
in this reading room Of the British Museum, was
to gain for my humble self chair. table, q ire,
pens, ink, and paper, library OF 300 900 volumes,
an attendant TO bring me any book shall request
upon paper, and liberty to pile volumes around
myself to any extent for ten hours OF every day for
ak months without the charge Of one single penny.
The simplest of all processes introduces you
here; letter from any person known respectfully
in London, be he merchant, banker. manuiac'
turer, mechanic, minister, member OF Parliament,
or my lord. This letter you send through the post
to the librarian. who returns you ticket OF az
mission during the space OF six months. with
this. not only may you wander Tor days through
these labarynths Of Rameses and Pharaoh, of ODE
lss and statues, of lizards and spiders OF aquatic
fowls and birds of Paradise, of lchens and sea-
weeds, of pyrites and hcmatites, OF Isis hobnob-
bling with Homer, and Osiris cheek by jowl with
Julius Caesar; not only may you study the com
parative merits of rusty coins and broken friezes,
Of sculptures from the Parthenon and shells from
the Pacific, but in either Of two large apartments,
for the purpose, from ten O'Clock till four In the
winter, and from nine till seven in the summer,
you may read. write, study or think, perfectly at
You OF particular Interest. There may be now
perhaps q hundred persons OF both sexes In the Two
apartments, some with pilcs of volumes beside
them. occupying half the table a. wnieh .ney SIN
writing, waiting the return of the messenger for
book ordered, or, with hand upon brow, deeply I'M
mersed in thought. Not q word is spoken, nor
Az H. n .f}nU IA
of each is the whole collection OF printed books or
manuscripts of one of the largest libraries OF Eu-
rope. Before you is catalogue. You have but
to write the of the work you desire, with the
marks attached to it in the catalogue, upon q
printed ticket, appending your signature, and IN
few moments the attendant lays the work before
you. Talk about the paradise OF the Koran, or the
heaven of the Sinister, or the Immortality OF the
Indian
Who thinks, admitted to that equal sky,
His faithful dog shall bear him company
what IL il when compared to this9
said there were 300 900 volumes here, but in
appendix to the catalogue ! ma iso,ooV VOL
years making in all 435, 900 volumes. This vast
number of printed books-ior this number does not
include the acknowledgements fourteen apart
Inents some Of very spacious dimensions. on the
ground floor Of the building, beside various al
coyes in the cellars beneath. devoted 70 the recep
ton of pamphlets. The largest and most hand
some of all the apartments holds the kings library,
as it Is called-a library formed by George Ill and
given by George Nv. to the nation, with the pro-
vision only that it is to be forever kept apart from
the rest.
It is impossible to convey to another the idea
with which such library fills the mind. 1t is not
the erudition, nor the age, nor the rareness, nor
the immense value, nor the splendor, nor the num-
sions with which All ordinarily fine library stamps
the mind, that you feel here. II ID somcthing else,
far beyond these; sense Of amazement, feeling
of nfnitude winding OF pour own individual SCI,
never spin you out; that look after look at the
countless, endless volumes, as you walk the rooms
ietsin upon the soul. And then these MSS OF medi,
cine and natural history, these registers OF Ola
English monasterics-may tho turf rest lightly on
their ashes-those shaven monks; these charters OF
Alfred and Edgar, and Henry, and James; these
civil records and heraldic letters, and illuminated
missals; these piles of ancient scholastic divinity;
these autographs Of Boron, and Bede, and Cyril;
these Saxon homilies and biack-letter laws; these
Syriac, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Oriental Goddess
who shall tell of their glory?
II is of one portion of the British museum only
that have dwelt, and that a comparatively pri-
vate one, since the rest of the museum IL open TO
the public indiscriminately. OF these may speak
more fully at some future day; but now wish 70
allude to what more particularly concerns this ex
elusive portion Besides the library, reading room
and manuscript room, the collection OF portraits, o.
prints, and of coins, also belongs to the private
Apartment. In the number of pictures. the muse.
um seems at first sight to be bare; but this was cx
planned to me by the fact that the Nationa! Gal
lerY was originally IOunOcO Oy tue nIltieu AsAu5C-
um and that thither sent its chef d'Guvrss OF
art. There are enough retained, however, to at
tract and interest an American stranger. Two
portraits of Oliver Cromwell, one copy, the other
an original, were to me things Of especial notice
There is a tradition that they are not ikenesses
do not believe it. They hate the very memory OF
old Nol. these descendants of those whom he dared
to humble, and they will not have him to look like
any thing human. l think they likenesses
and though coming from different Sources it is in
favor of their opinion that they look alike AZ al
events, they are the very realization o. my ideal o.
rough, SCARED, ugly, and yet with spirit o.
kindly earnestness living in the eyes that one
knows he must have had. Those eyes grow upon
eyebrows become raised, az you gaze, and before
you again lives the noblest OF all highlands souls
in the seventeenth century. Not q monument IN
all the great city, not column, or arch, or tablet
or statue, commentaries his greatness here
Thank God, he does not need these outward sym
bols to pcrpetuate his great deeds, or to add renowr
to his memory!
Az If IN contrast to the furrowed fase of the Pro
tector, az you turn to the other side Of the room
there meeis your eyes the portrait Of Mary Queer
of Scots, with it, peerless brow and winning smile
There are three portraits of her in different part
of the building; but this, by Cornelius Janson
comes to your heart the real srasembancs OF th'
impulsve and unfortunate Queen. know Of NJ
other instance in the whole history OF the worit
where beauty has held its sway over truth, com
pelling generation after generation of men 4
merge justice in pity, as in the case of Mary. Evel
in our own day, one Of our own popular writers, II
his history Of Mary Queen Of Scots for the young
miseration for her hapless fate But there she H..
all woman, beautiful, graceful noble, intellectual
her sweet smile, even on the canvas, winning yo'
to forgetfulness of Darnley and almost to hatre'
of Knox.
Hardly of less interest are portraits which hang
upon the walls The rufled dress and angular fac
OF the virgin Queen, always the same in print Q
picture; the ugly face and cavalier air Of England
M rth - VhO eRid n foolish thlnf