and variety of their illuminations, the fidelity of their copy, and the multitude of their performances.

3. But when every letter of every copy was to be formed by the immediate operation of the hand, the most persevering assiduity could effect but little. The books appear not to have been written with the rapidity of a modern transcriber, but with formal stiffness, or a correct elegance, equally inconsistent with expedition. They were, therefore, rare, and consequently much valued; and, whenever sold, were sold at a great price,

4. Few, indeed, but crowned and mitred heads, or incorporated communities, were able to procure a number sufficient to merit the appellation of a library; and even the boasted libraries of princes and prelates, were such as are now easily exceeded by every private collection.

5. To be poor, with whatever ability or inclination, was, at one time, an insurmountable obstacle to literary improvement; and, perhaps, we indulge an unreasonable acrimony in our general censure of monkish sloth and ignorance, not considering that an involuntary fault ceases to be blameable; that ignorance is necessary where the means of information are scarce; and that sloth is not to be avoided where the requisites of proper employment are not attainable without great expense, or earnest solicitation.

6. It was, perhaps, less with a view to obviate these incon veniences, than from the interested motives of deriving greater gain by exacting the usual price for copies, multiplied with more ease and expedition, that a new mode was at length practised, derived from the invention of the art of printing; a discovery which, of all those recorded in civil history, is of the most important and extensive consequence.

7. That the first productions of the press were intended to pass for manuscripts, we are led to conclude from the resemblance of the type to the written characters, from the omission of illuminations, which were to be supplied by the pen to facilitate the deception, and from the inventor's concealment of his process, so far as to incur suspicion of witchcraft or magick, by which alone the first observers could account for the extraor dinary multiplication of the transcripts.

8. But the deceit was soon detected. The perfect resemblance in the shape of the letters, in the place and number of the words on every page; the singular correctness, and, above all, the numerous copies of the same author, inevitably led to a discovery of the truth.

9. To conceal it, indeed, was no longer desired, when experi ence had suggested the great lucrative advantages, and the

practicability of multiplying books, without end, by the process newly invented. It soon appeared, though it was not obvious at first, that the new mode would be more agreeable to the reader, as well as easier to the copyist, and that printed books would universally supersede the use of manuscripts, from a choice founded on judicious preference.

10. The art was soon professed as a trade; and the business of copying, which had once afforded only amusement or gain to the curious and the idle, became the constant employment and support of a numerous tribe of artisans, and constituted a very considerable source of mercantile advantage.

11. Of an art, which, though it had yet acquired but small degrees of perfection, appeared of most extensive utility in religion, in politicks, in literature, and even in commerce, no labour has been spared to investigate the history; but, unfor tunately, the inquirers into the origin of arts, instigated by the zeal of minute curiosity to push their researches too far, often discover them so rude, obvious, and inartificial at their commencement, as to reflect very little honour on those whom they ostentatiously exhibit as the earliest inventors.

12. Such has been the result of the investigations of those, who, dissatisfied with the commonly received opinions on the date of the invention of printing, pretend to have discovered traces of it, many years before the first production of Faustus, in 1457; and it is true, that the Speculum Salutis, and a few other books are extant, which are, on good reasons, judged to have been stamped, not printed agreeable to the rules of art, long before the erection of a press at Mentz.

13. But the mode in which they were executed, like the Chinese, bears but little resemblance to the art of printing, properly so called; it appears not, by any historical memoir, to have suggested the first hint of it, and is too imperfect to deserve notice as even the infant state of this momentous invention.

14. National pride, like the pride of individuals, is often founded on slight or dubious pretensions. Thus have Germany and Holland contended, with all the warmth of party, for the imaginary honour of giving birth to the inventor of printing; who, after all, was probably led to the discovery, not by the enlarged views of publick utility, but by fortunate circumstances, concurring with the desire of private and pecuniary advantage.

15. But, though the history of printing, like all other histories, is in some degree obscure and doubtful at its earliest period; though Strasburg has boasted of Mentel, and Haarlem of Coster, as the inventor; yet is there great reason to

conclude, that the few arguments advanced in their favour are supported only by forgery and falsehood: and we may safely assert, with the majority of writers, and with the general voice of Europe, that the time of the invention was about the year 1440, the place Mentz, and the persons Gutenburg, Faustus, and Schaeffer, in conjunction.-V. Knox.

LESSON LXXI.

The Rose.

1. THE rose had been washed, just washed in a shower,
Which Mary to Anna conveyed;

The plentiful moisture encumbered the flower,
And weighed down its beautiful head.

2. The cup was all filled, and the leaves were all wet,
And it seemed to a fanciful view,

To weep for the buds it had left with regret,
On the flourishing bush where it grew.

3. I hastily seized it, unfit as it was

For a nosegay, so dripping and drowned;
And swinging it rudely, too rudely, alas !
I snapped it, it fell to the ground.

4. And such, I exclaimed, is the pitiless part,
Some act by the delicate mind,

Regardless of wringing and breaking a heart,
Already to sorrow resigned.

5. This elegant rose, had I shaken it less,

Might have bloomed with its owner awhile:
And the tear that is wiped with a little address,
May be followed perhaps by a smile.-CowPER.

LESSON LXXII.

Schemes of Life often lusory.

1. OMAR, the son of Hassan, had passed seventy-five years in honour and prosperity. The favour of three successive califs had filled his house with gold and silver; and whenever

he appeared, the benedictions of the people proclaimed his

passage.

2. Terrestrial happiness is of short continuance. The brightness of the flame is wasting its fuel; the fragrant flower is passing away in its own odours. The vigour of Omar began to fail; the curls of beauty fell from his head; strength departed from his hands, and agility from his feet. He gave back to the calif the keys of trust, and the seals of secrecy; and sought no other pleasure for the remains of life, than the converse of the wise, and the gratitude of the good.

3. The powers of his mind were yet unimpaired. His chamber was filled by visitants, eager to catch the dictates of experience, and officious to pay the tribute of admiration. Calid, the son of the viceroy of Egypt, entered every day early, and retired late; he was beautiful and eloquent. Omar admired his wit, and loved his docility. "Tell me," said Calid, “thou to whose voice nations have listened, and whose wisdom is known to the extremities of Asia, tell me how I may resemble Omar the prudent. The arts by which thou hast gained power and preserved it, are to thee no longer necessary or useful; impart to me the secret of thy conduct, and teach me the plan upon which thy wisdom has built thy fortune."

4. "Young man," said Omar, "it is of little use to form plans of life. When I took my first survey of the world, in my twentieth year, having considered the various conditions of mankind, in an hour of solitude, I said thus to myself, leaning against a cedar, which spread its branches over my head, seventy years are allowed to man; I have yet fifty remaining ten years I will allot to the attainment of knowledge, and ten I will pass in foreign countries.

5. "I shall be fearned, and therefore shall be honoured; every city will shout at my arrival, and every student will solicit my friendship. Twenty years thus passed, will store my mind with images, which I shall be busy, through the rest of my life, in combining and comparing. I shall revel in inexhaustible accu mulations of intellectual riches; I shall find new pleasures for every moment; and shall never more be weary of myself.

6. "I will not, however, deviate too far from the beaten track of life; but will try what can be found in female delicacy. I will marry a wife beautiful as the Houries, and wise as Zobeide with her I will live twenty years within the suburbs of Bagdad, in every pleasure that wealth can purchase, and fancy can invent. I will then retire to a rural dwelling, pass my days in obscurity and contemplation, and lie silently down on the bed of death. Through my life it shall be my settled

resolution, that I will never depend upon the smiles of princes; that I will never stand exposed to the artifices of courts; I will never pant for publick honours, nor disturb my quiet with the affairs of state. Such was my scheme of life, which I impressed indelibly upon my memory.

7. "The first part of my ensuing time was to be spent in search of knowledge, and I know not how I was diverted from my design. I had no visible impediments without, nor any ungovernable passions within. I regarded knowledge as the highest honour, and the most engaging pleasure; yet day stole upon day, and month glided after month, till I found that seven years of the first ten had vanished, and left nothing behind them.

8. "I now postponed my purpose of travelling; for why should I go abroad while so much remained to be learned at home? I immured myself for four years, and studied the laws of the empire. The fame of my skill reached the judges; I was found able to speak upon doubtful questions; and was commanded to stand at the footstool of the calif. I was heard with attention; I was consulted with confidence; and the love of praise fastened on my heart.

9. “I still wished to see distant countries; listened with rapture to the relations of travellers; and resolved some time to ask my dismission, that I might feast my soul with novelty: but my presence was always necessary; and the stream of business hurried me along. Sometimes I was afraid lest I should be charged with ingratitude: but I still proposed to travel, and therefore would not confine myself by marriage.

10. "In my fiftieth year, I began to suspect that the time of travelling was past; and thought it best to lay hold on the felicity yet in my power, and indulge myself in domestick pleasures. But at fifty no man easily finds a woman beautiful as the Houries, and wise as Zobeide. I inquired and rejected, consulted and deliberated, till the sixty-second year made me ashamed of wishing to marry. I had now nothing left but retirement; and for retirement I never found a time, till disease forced me from publick employment.

11. "Such was my scheme, and such has been its consequence. With an insatiable thirst for knowledge, I trifled away the years of improvement; with a restless desire of seeing different countries, I have always resided in the same city; with the highest expectation of connubial felicity, I have lived unmarried; and with unalterable resolutions of contemplative retirement, I am going to die within the walls of Bagdad."

10*

DR. JOHNSON.