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National Library at Paris.

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thaler is the chief librarian, and J. A. Schmeller, assistant, with nineteen subordinate officers.

The university of Munich is the principal school of learning in the Bavarian dominions, being frequented by about 1400 students. It was originally founded at Ingolstadt, 1472; thence transferred to Landshut, 1800; and finally removed to Munich, 1826. Thiersch, a man of liberal views, is now rector. Among the eminent professors are Neumann, the Chinese scholar, Massmann, Schubert, the oriental traveller, Görres, Höfler, Sternberg, Schmeller, etc. To the five faculties of the university, there has lately been added a high-school for the practical arts.

BIBLIOTHEQUE ROYALE, NOW NATIonal Library at Paris.

The long, inelegant building, No. 58, Rue Vivienne, in front of the Place Richelieu, Paris, contains the largest library in the world. The meanness of the building and the disposition of the books form a very marked contrast with the fine edifice and the scientific arrangements of the library at Munich. The length of the building is 540 feet, the breadth 130. Up to the time of St. Louis, the few books in France, mostly copies of the Bible, fathers, canons and missals, belonged to the numerous convents. St. Louis caused copies of all these Mss. to be made, and arranged in a room belonging to the Sainte Chapelle. This was bequeathed to several monasteries. King John's library did not exceed eight or ten volumes. Charles V. formed a library of 910 volumes, which was deposited in a tower of the Louvre. These books were illuminated missals, legends of the saints, works on astrology, etc. This collection was partly dispersed under Charles VI, and the remainder were carried to England, having been purchased for 1200 livres by the duke of Bedford. Most of these were subsequently brought back by the princes John and Charles d'Angoulême. In 1496, Louis XII. transported the library of the Louvre, with several other collections, to Blois. Francis I. carried the whole to Fontainebleau, consisting of 1890 volumes. It was removed to Paris by Henry IV. in 1594. It was greatly enriched by Louis XIII, and numbered 16,746 volumes. Under Louis XIV. the treasures of the library were immensely augmented. At his death in 1715, it exceeded 70,000 volumes. In 1721, it was removed to the building, where it has ever since remained, which had been previously the Hôtel de Nevers, and a part of the immense palace of Cardinal Mazarin. The other part of this palace was annexed to it in 1829, when the treasury was removed to the rue de Rivoli. At the death of Louis XV. the library exceeded 100,000 volumes. At the suppression of the monasteries at the revolution, all the Mss. and printed volumes belonging to them, were added to

the library. Bonaparte enriched it with spoils from the greater part of Europe, most of which were restored in 1815. An annual grant has been made for many years by the government for the purchase of books, Mss., engravings, etc. In 1846, the sum granted to this library and to three others, was 555,823 francs.

The library is divided into five distinct sections; 1. The printed works. 2. Mss., genealogies, etc. 3. Medals, antique gems, etc. 4. Engravings. 5. The zodiac and antique marbles. The second room on the first floor contains a series of specimens of ancient ornamental book-binding. In the third room are specimens of printing from the time of Gutemberg to the present. In the transverse gallery are two models in porcelain of the celebrated porcelain towers of China, given to Louis XIV. Next is the public reading gallery, which is generally crowded. The average daily number of readers is stated to be nearly 400. The works are kept in wired bookcases. On the ground floor are modern folio editions, on vellum, etc., or copies remarkable for the richness of their binding. One of the greatest curiosities in the library, "is the most ancient printed book with a date," it is a Psalter, printed in Mayence, in 1457, by Faust and Schaeffer. The Mazarin Bible, also in this library, was printed in 1456, with cut metal types.

The number of medals and coins is computed at 100,000. Many are exceedingly rare, and some are unique. The series of Roman coins is quite remarkable. Twenty Etruscan vases, found at Caere in Etruria, eight suits of complete armor, with many antique curiosities, will attract the visitor.

The Mss. are arranged in galleries on the first and second floors. They consist of about 80,000 volumes, in French, Latin, Greek, oriental and other languages, including 30,000 which relate to the history of France. The catalogues fill twenty-four volumes, besides ample supplements to each. In a gallery, which existed in the time of Mazarin, 140 feet in length and 22 in breadth, many precious and rare Mss. are preserved. Among them is a very interesting historic record of A. D. 781, in Chinese and Syriac, found in Canton in 1628, giving an account of the arrival of the Syrian missionaries in China, and of the propagation of Christianity in that country, in the 7th and 8th centuries. There are also the Ms. of Telemachus in Fenelon's own hand; the Mss. of Galileo; Missals of the 5th and 6th centuries; Coptic, Persian, Arabic, and Ethiopian Mss., etc.

The number of plates of engravings amounts to 1,400,000, contained in upwards of 9000 volumes or portfolios. The portraits, to the number of 60,000, are divided in each country, according to the rank or profes sion of the individual, and are classed in chronological or alphabetical order. The series of costumes of various ages and countries is very in

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Paris Library-Literature in Edinburgh.

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teresting. The history of France will form 150 volumes. The topographical collection contains about 300,000 maps, charts, etc. A room on the ground floor contains the Egyptian Zodiac of Denderah, supposed to have formed the centre of the ceiling of a temple. There are also Bactrian inscriptions, discovered near the Indus. In the court yard are some bas-reliefs from Karnac, nearly 4000 years old.

Paris possesses five public libraries, to which admission is absolutely free, not including those of the institute, the university and those which belonged to the two late Chambers. These five libraries contain, according to a statement in the British Review, August, 1847, at least 1,300,000 volumes of printed books, viz.

The above, it should be remarked, is a low estimate; the Paris authori-, ties make the number in the national library much larger.

What effects the recent revolution in France may have upon the national library, upon the learned societies, and upon the general cause of science and literature, cannot now be foreseen. Disastrous results may be anticipated at least for a time, owing to the universal derangement of business, the cessation from labor, etc. A popular government, if one should be firmly established, will, doubtless, be found very reluctant to bestow its money for the advancement of the arts and the higher branches of science and literature. If the existing noble treasures, which Paris possesses, can be preserved uninjured, we shall have great reason to rejoice. The Parisian population have, not unfrequently, exhibited a respect for property, which we should hardly have anticipated. The royal library was left untouched and unharmed, through the first Revolution.

LITERARY AND THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONs in Edinburgh.

It was a remark of the poet Wordsworth, that in his view, the two most interesting cities in Europe, are Edinburgh and Venice. Edinburgh, for advantages of position, for the number of noble views which are afforded by various localities within the city and around it, is probably unrivalled. Viewed from Princes Street, from Calton Hill, from Arthur's Seat, from the castle, and several other points, the panorama is extremely picturesque and impressive. It combines nearly all the eleVOL. V. No. 18.

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ments fitted to excite the imagination,-quaint, lofty, antique buildings, bold and craggy precipices almost in the heart of the city, the sea at a little distance, some fine specimens of modern architecture, the green fields on the south and west, the Castle and the Holyrood palace, and many objects, which have been consecrated in the history of Scotland or by the genius of Sir Walter Scott.

Edinburgh is divided by a deep ravine, the old town being on the south side, the new on the north. Through the old town from east to west, runs a straight and wide street, near the ravine and parallel to it, the lower part, called Canongate, terminating at Holyrood palace; the upper, High Street, ending at the castle. This street is crossed at right angles, about the centre of the old city, by another wide street, called South and North Bridge Street, which also spans the ravine by a stately bridge, and connects the two parts of Edinburgh. On the western side of South Bridge Street, in the old town, the University of Edinburgh is situated. The foundations of the present building were laid in 1789. They are of a quadrangular form, the sides measuring 358 by 255 feet, with a spacious court in the centre. The eastern front is adorned with a portico, supported by Doric columns, 20 feet in height, each composed of a single block of stone. The course of instruction in this university was commenced in 1583, the institution being founded the year previously by James VI. There are thirty-four charitable foundations, whose benefit is extended to eighty students. The aggregate amount is only £1172 per annum. The collections in natural history are large. The library occupies the south side of the building. The principal apartment is admirably adapted to its purposes. No test of any description is required from the students. They are not resident within the college, nor are they distinguished by any peculiarity of dress. They have perfect freedom in selecting the classes which they attend. Those students, however, who apply for a degree in medicine and the arts, must take a prescribed course; in the latter case, the student is required to attend the classes of Latin, Greek, Logic, Rhetoric, Moral Philosophy, Natural Philosophy and Mathematics. The number of students attending the university is from 1000 to 1200. At the beginning of the present century, the university was adorned with the illustrious names of Robertson, Playfair, Dugald Stewart, Cullen, Monro, Gregory, Blair, Black and Robison. Among the teachers at the present time are Sir William Hamilton, Prof. of Logic and Metaphysics, Wilson, of Moral Philosophy and Political Economy, Pillans of Latin, Jameson of Natural History, Dunbar of Greek, etc. As a school of medicine, it has always held a very distinguished place. When the chair of divinity was occupied by Dr. Chalmers, that department was very flourishing.

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The Advocates' Library, which is a few rods north-west of the university, adjoining the Parliament House, contains the most valuable collection of books in Scotland, the printed works amounting to 150,000 volumes, and the Mss. to 1700. The collection of Scottish poetry is very rich and curious. This is one of the five libraries which receive a copy of every new work published in Great Britain and Ireland. The library is managed with the greatest liberality and courtesy. Strangers are freely admitted without introduction. The members are entitled to draw twentyfive volumes at one time, and to lend any of the books so borrowed to their friends. The office of librarian has been held, among others, by Thomas Ruddiman, David Hume and Adam Ferguson. David Irving, LL. D., an accomplished scholar, is now librarian.

A part of the ravine, separating the old from the new town, has been filled up. On an elevation thus formed, near Sir Walter Scott's monument, the buildings for the new college of the Free Presbyterian church are to be erected. The professors in this college are Rev. Drs. Cunningham, Black, Duncan, Buchanan, and Rev. Mr. Fraser. It is not yet determined, we believe, whether to confine the course of study to theology and the related sciences, or to extend it over the general field of science and lite

rature.

On the southern slope of the Calton hill, on which are the observatory, the twelve columns the beginning of what was intended to be an exact reproduction of the Parthenon, the graceful monument to Dugald Stewart, etc., stands the High School of Edinburgh. It overlooks the buildings of the old town. The edifice is modern and spacious, has a most commanding site, and is not deficient in architectural beauty. The school, embracing both Classical and English studies, has long been one of the most distinguished in Great Britain. The studies are conducted by a rector (now Dr. Leonhard Schmitz), four classical masters, a French and German teacher, a teacher of writing, and a teacher of arithmetic and mathematics. Of these, the first five have a small endowment from the city, in addition to the class-fees. From the rector's class, many of the students proceed to the universities. The classical books studied in that class are parts of the following, viz. Tibullus, Virgil, Horace's Odes, Livy, Tacitus, Juvenal, Xenophon, Anabasis, one play of Sophocles and Plato's Apology. Among the text-books are Adam's Antiquities, Dunbar's Greek Grammar, Mair's Introduction, Schmitz's History of Rome, Porteous's Evidences of Christianity, etc. Particular attention appears to be given to religious instruction from the Scriptures. The principle of emulation is brought into very active exercise by means of a large number of prizes, by the publication of the names of successful competitors, etc. Of course, the instances are not rare of very severe study, and of distinguished at