Dayton daily empire. [volume] (Dayton [Ohio]) 1850-1865, 1864-01-20
written expressly for the Dayton Empire.I
A 81 IN EUROP L.

n tAuAN AHoNAAANibu ~ AhJ ~ ~ uNtuuI.
It is one Of the Acknowledgements which this
great nation has made Of its obligations to
itself. It's grand Library and It's wonderful
collections Of curiosities are open all the year
round, to every one who comes. Thousands
Of men OF genius, are iAvailing themselves
from year TO year OF the opportunities il az
lords Of deep research in every direction, and
day after day those long halls are thronged
with people, learning with their eyes, from he
contents Of those glass cases, the physical
history and geography Of the world.
The Reading Room is a circular apartment
with a lofty dome, like our court room, only
on a much larger scale, well lighted, and far
nished with desks, frames for holding the
heavy volumes the students may wish to con
suit, stationery and arm chairs. Thirly-eight
thousand volumes are on the shelves around
this room, but these are only the selections
made for daily reference from the grand libra
ry, in which there are eight hundred thous-
sand. This place is sauctifed by associations
with every distinguished author England has
produced for centuries, and it was in perfect
consonauce with our feelings, to obey the
Injunction We received to make no noise, and
to speak il at all, with bated breath. a great
many quiet, absorbed men were at work there,
some of them old, some heardless, some
whose glossy coats aud gold Eyeglasses ind
Gated competency, some whose exterior indi.
Gated that their daily bread cost them a daily
struggle, Perhaps there was some Mncaulcy,
Alison, Hall Hu, or Sir William Jones among
them, and III at thought itself WAS enough to
make us silent and respectful It may DO
that none of them we're real scholars, but the
fact that they were Mt home apparently in a
place where so much is to be learned, secured
for them from us all the venerntion we could
have given to genuine greatness.
In another room near by, is tho collection
Of the ancient manuscripts which we're hooks
before the invention of printing. The work
upon some of them is 30 perfect and uniform,
that 1t was almost impossible to believe il the
work of the unsteady hands of men. On the
margin of each sheet there are col0red figures
of saints, apostles and martyrs, some of which
are executed in o high style of art. In an
adjoining case is the Ma2arin Bible, the first
ever printed, with the date 1865 upon its title
page; also specimens OF Fnst and SchGffer's
printing, and books of all dates from that
time TO the present, showing the progress Of
the art. One book printed in l494 is as fine
a piece OF work as we see even even in these
days. AS we walk along, we see the auto
graphs of Luther, Milton, Newton, Sir Walter
Rategh las he spelled it), John Hampden,
William Penn, Pitt, BIrke, Fox, Washington,
Wellington, Nelson, and of almost every other
great mau that has lived since men began to
write. And then the original articles OF Lib
critics written in Latin, which the unruly
Barons demanded of King John, and the
Magma Charta which they obtained from him
at ~Runnymede on the 10th of June, l2l5.-
Then the Great Seals in wax of the different
kings Of England, some Of which are nearly
two feet in circumference and an inch and a
half thick. That of Queen Victoria ia more
modest in its dimensions, and is not more
than sixteen inches around, aud an inch in
thickness. IL is tied to patents or state pa
pers, and in a circular tin box.
Upstairs we found an extensive series Of
rooms in which are geological, mineral aud
vegetable curiosities without number; and an.
other series filled with antiquities, Roman,
Chinese, Indian, American aud English, and
ornaments of gold taken from mumuies ex-
hnmed in Nineveh, POmpeii, Babylon and
Egypt.
Ono of the many attendants who keep
watch over these treasures, unlocked a side
door and politely invited us to enter. We
followed him, and found in the center of a
small room, the celebrated Portland vase,
which was found in the tomb of Alexander
Severus, and is supposed to be two thousand
years old. 1t was bought by the Duke of Port
land, who paid five thousand dollars for it and
place 1t IN the museum. II is exquisite in
its proportions, carving and color 1t for
merly occupied a very prominent place in the
museum, but a mailman came by il one day,
and by q single blow of his stick shattered Il
into a thousand pieces. These we're carefully
gathered mp, aud cemented together again so
perfectly, that at a little distance one does not
see the least defect Even in its present condi-
ton it is too valuable to be exposed again to
a similar accident, and il Is therefore kent in
thisside room, into which crazy people are not
admitted.
There are a great many museums in Lon
don, and there is scarcely a branch of science
known, that is not illustrated by a Collect on
Of It's marvels, the most Of which are to be
seen for the asking. The museum of metals
and minerals on Jermyn street is most inter
estng and beautiful, and the museum of
anatomy, on Oxford street, il one that every
Young man ought to see. 8t..
The most interesting one Of them all, how.
ever, to me, was that Mt kensingtoh. had
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