exception of some of the initial letters, which SAY UNTO YOU, WHOSOEVER SHALL NOT RE- AMEN UIWA ÏZVIS. SAEI NI ANANIMIŲ VINAANPARAGA гays sve BARN. NI UMIŲ ÎN ÏZAI: The history of this manuscript has been given by so many authors, and set forth with so much perspicuity by Mr. Coxe', that we shall no (1) See Travels into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and Denmark, vol. IV. I. CHAP. further enter upon it, than by briefly stating, according to the information we received from the Librarian, that it was completed about the end of the fourth century, by a Bishop of Thrace, in the Gothic language used at that time in Masia. In the year 1648, when the city of Prague was stormed by the Swedes, it was found among the literary spoils, by a Swedish Count, who sent it as a present to his Queen, Christina. Three editions are extant of this valuable Code, of which the best is from the Clarendon Press of Oxford, by Edward Lye, printed in 1750. It contains a Latin Version, and a Commentary upon the Text, by the learned Benzelius; together with Lye's own observations, and a Gothic Grammar. The leaves of the Codex Argenteus are of vellum, but prepared in a very particular manner, and of a violet hue: the cover and back of the volume are of silver, embossed. It is related, that the celebrated Isaac Vossius stole this manuscript, during the confusion which preceded Queen Christina's abdication of the Argenteus, by Junius, Stiernhelm, and Lye. Hickes Gramm. Mæso- throne of Sweden; and that after his death it was purchased for 250l. by Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, who presented it to the University of Upsala. There are in this collection but few manuscripts of the Classics; and even these were evidently written after the invention of printing: they are, however, estimable, owing to the uncommon beauty of the calligraphy, which, in some instances, can with difficulty be distinguished from printing. We saw a good manuscript copy of Horace; and one of Ovid's Metamorphoses, less perfect and less legible. All the volumes are inclosed in cases faced with wire. Instead of written certificates, as vouchers for the books borrowed by the members of the University, they make use of printed tickets. Queen The principal curiosity in this library has Cabinet of been mentioned by other authors, and some- Christina. times inaccurately described. It is a cabinet of the most curious and costly workmanship, adorned with paintings, mosaïc, and gems, which was presented by the merchants of Hamburgh to Queen Christina. One of the doors is composed entirely of a single stone, said to be an agate; but, in fact, a slab of that species of stalactite carbonate of lime which is vulgarly called "flowered alabaster." The natural veins, CHAP. I. or zones, of this mineral, beautifully polished, have been ingeniously appropriated by a painter, so as to constitute parts of the picture which he has represented upon the stone. Upon one side is seen the destruction of Pharaoh and his Host in the Red Sea; and few persons would imagine that in a work of this kind, which must necessarily have so much of trick in it, the artist could have displayed the sublimity he has really afforded. The figure of Moses, and the expression delineated in his countenance, are worthy of as great a master as Raphael. An Equestrian Soldier is also figured with great spirit and energy. In this curious piece, the perspective, as it might be expected, is altogether violated. Upon the other side of the slab is a representation of the Day of Judgment; but this has been evidently borrowed from the famous picture by Michael Angelo, in the Sestina Chapel at Rome. It contains some of the same figures; and has, moreover, the same characteristic portraits; such, for example, as those of the Cardinal, and the Mistress of the painter. The artist, whose name we did not learn, has represented his own portrait among those of the Blessed in heaven, and has decorated his head with the Pope's tiara. Other parts of this cabinet are adorned with antique gems, paint CHAP. I. the Third. ings on precious stones, Florence mosaïc-work, executed by inlaid pieces of antique marbles, and very curious painting by means of inlaid pieces of wood in mosaïc, perhaps the workmanship of Albert Durer, and certainly of his time. But the most singular deposit in this Mysterious gift of room is a donation of Gustavus the Third: it Gustavus consists of two chests of manuscripts, doublelocked, chained, and sealed, which are not to be opened until fifty years shall have elapsed from the time of his death. These chests are supposed to contain his foreign correspondence, and many papers relating to the principal transactions in which he was engaged and the state of Europe at the time of his reign. An English traveller will hardly participate the curiosity which are betrayed by the Swedes respecting these mysterious boxes. "What a misfortune for us," said one of the inhabitants of Upsala, "that this precious deposit will not be opened in our time." Great expectation is on foot with regard to the things that will come to light when these papers are examined; but, for our own part, we could not help thinking that the moral of the old fable "Parturiunt montes" &c. will be found very applicable to the event of the opening of these chests, when the times arrives for their inspection. feelings of |