New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-17
LOST MANUSCRIPTS.
anecdotes of the Misadrentures Of Precious
DCcumentG
From The London Daily Mall
DGcumentx

Documents
From The London Daily Mall
That shrivelled parchment the charter OF Eng
llsh freedom. was saved it IS said by the veriest
chance from the scissors OF a n1ercfess tailor.
Struck by the great seals attached to piece OF
paper the tailor vas cutting up, Sir Robert Cot
ton stopped the man and gave him fourpence for
the document ne would have destroyed II is
now in the British Museum, lined and mounted
and in a glass case. the seal a shapelesS mass OF
wax and the characters quite illegible-
FCurpence will not buy Paradise Lost and
the passing OF this interesting document into
the possession Of the State will be a much more
formal and Unromantic transaction Is it too
much TO suppose that the secretary Of the His
tOric Manuscripts Commission Will quietly send
a check one morning to MessrS- SOtheby and
hand the manuscript to Sir Edward Thompson
at night?
The commission. II We TO believe earl
has done much more daring things. The fourth
Earl Of Ashburnham had great love for IT,
You are here sir under false pretences!' he
shouted to Sir George DaSent when the knight,
at the earTs invitation. arrived AT AshbUrn-
ham Il have discovered that you are mem
Der. sir. OF that most disreputabe society called
the Historic Manuscripts Commission. they are
society of rufTians sr!'
Surely" exclaimed Sir George. "a great many
eminent persons belong to the commission Lord
Salisbury. for Instance. is not ruflan-"'
Yes. sir: he is ruffan. when acting for that
society" the angry earl burst out; and you.
sir. a rufnan- tOo-you tamper with title
deeds. sir
The old lady who received letters from Car
When Froude's Carlyle appeared she opened
her chest filled with letters from the great men
OF her day, and took out bundle. They were
written to me-" she burst out. as she flung them
into the fire. mot to the public And when the
children ran in to say that the chimney was On
fire. all that she would say was, Never mind.
and the papers went OF burning
Examples almost without number come to
mind of manuscripts which have lain FOR years
and generations. sometimes for centuries, out or
sight Millions Commonplace Book was lost for
200 years. and was only found and published In
1874 But for an accident his "CoInus might
have been lost TO the world IL narrowly escaped
being bricked up with the BridSwater Papers,
which had all persisted when found
The Creevey Papers. which all the world has
been reading OF late, lay for sixty years undls-
covered. and We have had IN the last few years
a remarkable example of how, even IN thSse
days, momentous manuscripts may lie hidden
and unsupported beyond the gaze OF man The
oldest code % laws In the world. promulgated by
a King Of Babylon forty-two centuries ago. was
found. thanks to the enterprise OF the French
government. only last year. and though TINS
ancient MS is written In stone. it is an amazing
murabFs own words 1914 lines OF the statutes
he enacted for his people more than TWO lhOu-
sand years before Christ
There is now In ST Petersburg the oloest
known MS of the New Testament IN creek.
saved from destruction by the merest cn<Ahco
sixty years ago. Crossing the hall OF convent
at the foot of Mount Sinai. Constantine Ilschen-
dorf a basketful OF parchnent leaves on
their way be burned Two baskets hao AZ
secure for himself q small bundle or odd
leaves But the monks. now Interested IN the
waste paper" saved the rest from the nre' ao
nine years after, return WISH 10 the con-
vent Tischendorf found that the steward hao'
wrapped In a red cloth. "a bulky KIND OF vof-
ume- which proved to be the whole or the New
Testament with parts hitherto unknown. ana
parts OF the Old which had long been sought
He begged the volume for the Car, and to-day
II lies well preserved in spite of its LOO years
OF age among the treasures OF the RUSSIAN
pital
The Stuart Papers. one Of the most precious
possessions OF King Edward. were found lying
In a garnet by an outlaw. upon whose head the
British government had set a price, who bought
them for a paltry sum as a heap or tradesInens
bills and afterward ended a miserable Iife oS
strangIlng himself in London tavern But Tor
this tragedy of life these priceless volumes IN
the Kings library would doubtless have perlsheu
unknown More pathetic is the story OF the MS.
of one of the most beautiful poems IN EnSllSh
literature. Dante Gabriel Rossettt. on his w1fes
death placed the MS. Of 1.-The Blessed Damosel'
In her coffin and buried it with her. 1t was his
only copy. and the poem was then imprinted
And imprinted IL would have remained had not
his friends Induced the poet to regain possession
% ~ or,I extx D 10 ~,