The interrogative point is affixed to those numbers which Balbi considers doubtful. In the MSS. of the British Museum, the 19,093 charters, diplomas, and original documents are not comprised. The estimates in respect to the libraries of Japan, are derived from the statements of Siebold, whom Balbi terms, "learned and conscientious." The Japan libraries are divided among the princes, the nobles, and the monasteries. Besides the works printed within the empire, they contain a large number of ancient and modern Chinese books, together with many rare MSS. in Japanese and Chinese, maps, topographical plans, and sketches in natural history. The Royal Library, in Paris, is the largest in existence. It had, in 1822, Vols. 605,000 Augmentation by public sales and foreign purchases, 36,000 5,750 vols. of bound pamphlets, 63,000 704,000 This number should be raised to 706,000 on account of the department of prints. The library, at Cambridge, in this country, has 40,000 volumes of printed works. In the department of American history, it is the richest in the world. The Philadelphia library is estimated at about 42,000. The Spanish department is uncommonly complete. The New York Athenæum has 25,000 volumes. The library of Congress has 25,000. The law part of it is particularly valuable. The libraries of the Andover and Lane theological seminaries contain excellent selections of books printed in Germany. The congress of the United States have purchased the papers of Washington and Madison. The library of count Boutourlin, which has been recently offered to congress, contains 24,000 volumes. The count was among the most industrious and intelligent bookcollectors in Europe. Nearly every article was a personal purchase. His profound knowledge of bibliography secured him from imposition. The purchase of a private library, which had been originally formed after the suppression of some of the old convents of Tuscany, gave him the basis of his new collection. The catalogue is divided into classes. The MSS. compose 244 articles, some of them of great value. The texts of the Greek and Latin classics, contained in some of the editions, enjoy an authority equal to that of the most precious MSS. The library contains 386 articles of the Aldine press, a name which stands higher than that of any other in the history of printing. Every part of the library is in the highest state of preservation. MISCELLANIES. Book Trade between England and France.-The number exported from France to England were in According to this table, the number of volumes exported from France to England every year, may be averaged at about 100,000, while Great Britain has exported only 18,000. This disproportion is owing to the facts, that German and Italian books are principally transmitted to England through Paris, that French booksellers reprint a great number of English works, which are sold on the continent at a much cheaper rate than English books printed in England, and that translations of English books in France are much more numerous than translations of French books in England. British Possessions in North America.-Newfoundland was colonized in 1583; Nova Scotia in 1623; New Brunswick in 1630; Hudson Bay and North West Territory in 1670. Cape Breton was conquered in 1758; the Canadas in 1759. The total population of these colonies is estimated at only 1,819,000 souls, while their area in square miles is stated at not less than 4,174,490; of which the North West Territory, surrounding Hudson's Bay, contains about 3,700,000 square miles, with an estimated population of not more than 500,000. Rev. Dr. Thomas M'Crie.-Dr. M'Crie died at his house in Edinburgh, Aug. 5, 1835, aged 63. He received his academical education at the university of Edinburgh, and his theological with Rev. Archibald Bruce, the theological professor in connection with the General Associate Synod. In 1806 he separated from that synod, and joined Mr. Bruce and others in founding what was called the Constitutional Associate Presbytery. In 1812, Dr. M'Crie published his Life of John Knox. In 1819, appeared his biography of Andrew Melville, in which is fully illustrated the formation of the kirk of Scotland, and the peculiarities of the Presbyterian establishment. In 1825, he published memoirs of Mr. William Veitch and George Bryson; in 1827, History of the Progress and Suppression of the Reformation in Italy; and in 1829, a similar History of the Reformation in Spain. He had been for several years engaged on a Life of Calvin, which will probably be edited by his son. In plain, straight-forward and discriminating views of human affairs and characters, Dr. M'Crie has been surpassed by few, if any, historians. His impartiality, candor, and unaffected desire to investigate the truth, give a peculiar value to his productions. Inscription.—The following inscription was observed on a sun-dial in Normandy, "Soli Soli Soli." The meaning probably was this: "To the only sun of the earth." Revelation. Those who object to revelation on the ground of its being above human comprehension in many respects, would probably have treated it no better if the case had been reversed. They would then have objected to its very simplicity; and argued, that what was not above human comprehension, might have been produced by man, and therefore all presumption was against the idea of a supernatural origin. Writing Sermons.-The custom of writing sermons is said to have originated in the reign of Henry VIII., when such of the clergy as were licensed to preach, were so frequently molested on account of their expressions, that they adopted the practice, in order to refute malicious or erroneous accusations. Knox.—It is not generally known, that a son of John Knox was a minister in the church of England. His name was Eleazar, and he was ordained one of the preachers of the university of Cambridge. English tongue.-As an instance of the difficulty which foreigners find in pronouncing the English language, one has only to observe the seven following words, which are all spelt alike, but which differ widely in their pronunciation. Through, bough, dough, tough, cough, the surname Gough, and the Irish lough, (pronounced loch.) Circulation of some of the London Papers.-From January to June, 1835, inclusive, there were circulated of the Albion and Star, 130,000; Courier, 247,000; Globe and Traveller, 483,000; Morning Advertiser, 642,250; Morning and Evening Chronicle, 953,500; Morning Herald and English Chronicle, 1,187,005; Morning Post, 367,000; Public Ledger, 68,500; Standard, (including St. James's Chronicle, London Packet and London Weekly Journal,) 865,000; Sun, 395,000; the Times and Evening Mail, 1,406,997; True Sun, (and Weekly True Sun,) 229,000. The preceding are daily papers. Some of the weekly papers of large circulation are the following: Weekly Despatch, 815,000; Age, 275,000; Bell's Weekly Messenger, 308,500; Bell's New Weekly Messenger, 133,000; Examiner, 91,300; John Bull, 128,090; London Gazette, 70,000; Literary Gazette, 13,850; Patriot, (religious,) 75,000; Record, (religious,) 128,000; Sunday Times, and Essex and Herts Mercury, 200,000; Spectator and Municipal Corporation Reformer, 63,000; Satirist, 83,000; Watchman, 70,000. Petitions.-The number of petitions presented to the parliament in 1835, was 4,061. They were on 363 different subjects. Maynooth College. This celebrated Irish Catholic Institution received from parliament, in five annual grants, £44,690. The salaries of the prefect of the Dunboyne establishment, the first, second, and third professors of theology, the professor of sacred Scripture and Hebrew, were, each, £122. The professors of mathematics and experimental philosophy, of logic, metaphysics and ethics, of rhetoric, of humanity, of English and French elocution, and of Irish elocution, received each £112. The professor of declamation has, for about a month, each year, £21. Literary Statistics.-During 1834, there were imported into Russia 300,000 volumes in foreign languages, which is 20,000 more than in 1833. There were published 728 national works, and 116 translations, exclusive of 48 periodicals. In these publications are not included 113,200 copies of different books for instruction. In England, the commercial value of literary works amounted in 1828 to the sum of £334,450, and in 1833 to £415,300; and adding to it the amount of daily and weekly journals, reviews and magazines, the general sale of English literature in 1833 may be estimated at £2,420,900. In France, the number of literary productions, which, it appears, quadrupled itself from 1814 to 1826, increased two-fold from 1826 to 1828. In this period, the number of works published in France wa 7,616; in 1830, 6,739; in 1831, 6,063, and in 1833, 7,011. In Germany, the annual sale of books amounts to 21,500,000 francs, or £300,000 sterling. About 40 years ago, Germany contained only 300 bookselling establishments; in 1833, the number had increased to 1,094. In valuing the population of the different circles of the confederation at 38,266,000, we may reckon one library to 122,222 inhabitants; while in Prussia, the proportion is one to 33,899. Miles Coverdale's Bible.-In the British Museum there is a copy of this Bible in excellent preservation, small folio, black letter, with many curious engravings. After the books of the Old and New Testaments, those of the Apocrypha are inserted, with this introduction: "The bokes and treatises, which amonge the fathers of olde are not retened to be of like authoritie with the other bokes of the Byble, neither are they founde in the canon of the Hebrew." The copy of Coverdale in the Chapter library at Gloucester is in better condition than most of those in other public libraries. Of the seven mentioned by Dr. Cotton, that in the British Museum is the only one that has the title-page. The English Language. Professor Dale, in an introductory lecture in King's College, London, said, that the English language, though abounding with irregularities which set all system at defiance, was still, in its operation, equal to the Latin, and, in its copiousness, not inferior to the Greek; it was a language resembling an anonymous metal, which the ancients called as Corinthium, a language which, like the British Constitution, was a mixture of discordant elements. Though made to accord with the Latin, its genius and structure were much more similar to the Greek. In proof of this statement, Prof. Dale read various extracts from Shakspeare, showing, that even the vulgarisms of the present day were, in the time of the immortal bard, in constant use among the nobility. London City Mission.—At a late meeting of the Society, a report of proceedings from May to November was read, of which we subjoin an abstract :— Sixty agents are employed, one of whom devotes his attention chiefly to the Jews, two among the Welsh on the south side of the Thames, and one among seamen. All the agents visit from house to house, and, in some cases, from room to room; in districts which contain about 136 courts, alleys, and portions of streets. The number of houses assigned to them is 15,778, which are inhabited by 23,976 families: 100,642 visits have been paid, 10,432 of which have been to the sick poor: this is a great increase on the six months preceding, when the visits were 43,962, of which 3,856 were to the sick poor. About 42,600 hours have thus been spent during the last six months. The results have been of the most cheering kind: the thoughtless have been impressed and awakened: the drunkard and profligate have forsaken their evil ways: the neglected have been sought out: the afflicted have been comforted; and upward of thirty wretched females have been rescued from profligacy, and introduced to different asylums, or restored to their friends. No fewer than 1,912 meetings have been held for prayer, at which many have attended who were previously neglecting their souls, and living without God and without hope in the world. Several hospitals, workhouses, lodging-houses, and large manufactories have been visited, and meetings held for conversation, for prayer, and for reading the Scriptures. Since May last, 127,695 tracts have been given away, which have been the means of effecting great good: tracts to the value of 100l. have been granted by the Religious Tract Society: 402 copies of the Scriptures have been furnished on loan, and some pleasing instances have transpired of spiritual benefit derived from them. The present expenditure is between 300l. and 400l. monthly. During the six months, including a former balance, the receipts amounted to 4,2201. 17s., and the expenditure to 3,1201. Os. 2d.; leaving a balance in the hands of the treasurer of 1,100l. 16s. 10d. ANNUAL RECEIPTS OF MISSIONARY, BIBLE, EDUCATION, AND TRACT SOCIETIES. [From the London Missionary Register, for December, 1836.] THE receipts of these societies somewhat exceed those of the preceding year, notwithstanding the favorable contingencies of that year. It is not intended that this list should include any institutions for education, except such as aim on a large scale at the instruction of the people. Excepting various local Bible societies on the continent, the list is tolerably complete of such societies as come within its object. In some of the American societies which employ missionaries in the back settlements of their own country, no means are afforded of distinguishing the amounts respectively appropriated to foreign and to domestic missions. Of the total amount given in this list, about £163,956 was the produce of sales of books, by the Bible, Christian-Knowledge, Religious-Tract, and a few other societies, and by the Sunday-school Union. The sales by different American societies amounted to about £29,357. |