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tained, be deleit and expunged: As also, that ther be an extract of this report transmitted to his Grace the Duke of Lauderdale, whereby, for the future, when any such signatures, bearing forresteries, sal be offered to his Majesty, for his royal hand, whereunto his Majesty may be graciously pleased to take notice thereof, and to signifie his pleasure to his Exchequer, it being of a great concerne, both to his Majesty, and his leidges.

Signed-ROTHES CANCELL. J. P. D.

COPIE of a LETTER from the LORDS COMMISSIONERS of TREASURY and EXCHEQUER, to the DUKE of LAUDERDALE, anent the PRIVILEDGES of FORRESTERIES, 9th July, 1680. Edinburgh, 9th July, 1680.

May it please your Grace,

In the last winter Sessione, there wer presented, to be past in Exchequer, a signature under his Majesties royal hand, in favours of one Robertson of Fascally, wherin was an erection of a Forresterie; which being taken notice of in Exchequer, and not knowing what the priviledge thereof might import, there was a stop put to the passing of that signature, untill such time as the Lords of the Sessione (to whom it was remitted) should give ther opinion in that matter; which accordingly they gave in this day into the Exchequer. The extract where of, with what is resolved thereupon, they have appointed to be transmitted toyour Grace, that you may be pleased to acquaint his Majesty therewith;

and, that his royall pleasur therein, both as to signatures of the same nátur, already past his Majestie's hand, not yet expead in Exchequer, and such as shall happen to be offered hereafter, may, with your conveniency, be signified unto them. And, May it please your Grace,

Your Grace's most humble servant, Signed-ROTHES CANCELL. J. P. D.

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ACCOUNT of BOOKS committed to the Flames, suppressed, or censured.

Continued from p. 418.

UNHEARD-OF CURIOSITIES. By Jas. Gaffarel, (Latin,) Hamburgh, 1676-8. 2 vols. 12mo. In this singular work, the author treats of the different species of talismans; he declaims against them in general with great violence, yet admits that some may possess virtue; a doctrine which drew upon him the censure of the Sorbonne. He proposed to publish an world, containing a description of "Univer al history of the subterranean the most beautiful caverns, and most of the earth." The prospectus only singular grottos, caves, vaults, and dens appeared; it is singular, and proved the length to which the folly of this author went, who pretended to give us an exact topographical description of the sulphureous caverns of hell, purgatory, and the limbos. He died in 1681, aged 80 years.

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1617, and Summary of Theology 1665. Garasse, Banquet of the Seven Sages The first of these works was suppressed, and the other censured by the Sorbonne, as degrading the majesty of religion, by a low, mean, and fami the coarsest and most abusive of all Liar style. Garasse is considered as writers, and in France his very name the celebrated Advocate Pasquier, he has become a proverb. Addressing says, "Adieu, master Pasquier; adieu. bloody pen; adieu, advocate without

conscience; adieu, man without huma

nity; adieu, Christian without religion adieu, capital enemy of the see 01 Rome; adieu, unnatural son, &c." Speaking of Rabelais, he says, "Above all books, libertines have in their hand Rabelais, as the enchiridion of debau chery. This scoundrel does not even deserve to be named; I shall only say. that to describe him well, he must be called the very pest and gangrene of piety; it is impossible to read a page

without danger of mortally offending GOD. In short, I consider Rabelais as a damnable and pernicious writer, who sucks out by degrees the spirit of piety, who insensibly steals a man from himself, who extinguishes the principle of religion; in short, who has done more harm in France by his buffooneries, than Calvin by his innovations." Yet Garasse is said to have been mild and polite in company. His death was occasioned by an act of heroic humanity, in going to attend persons afflicted with the plague. Giannone. History of Naples. 5 vols. 4to. 1623. A work now highly esteemed, but which drew upon the author a severe persecution, in consequence of the freedom with which he speaks of the Pope and the ecclesiastics. No sooner had the book appear ed, than the author was obliged to fly from his country, which he did just in time to escape being arrested by the inquisition, who had issued an order to that effect. All the copies of his book, however, were seized, and committed to the flames, as the author would doubtless have been, could he have been found. He met with an asylum in Piedmont, where the King of Sardinia protected him under pretence of retaining him as a prisoner.He died there in 1748.

Les Philippiques. By M. Grange Chancel. These were a most keen saure, composed in 1720, against the Duke of Orleans, then regent, and other persons of distinction. It proved fatal to its author. La Grange, to Escape the resentment of the governent, fled to Avignon, which, belonging to the see of Rome, afforded him a place of refuge. Being betrayed, however, by a false friend, beyond the limits of the sacred territory, he was seized, and conducted to the isles of St Marguerite, where he was thrown into a dungeon. The governor, who was charmed with his wit and gaiety, granted him a considerable share of liberty, till La Grange, unable to re

sist his turn for satire, composed ons against his benefactor, upon which he was instantly remitted to his dungeons However, an ode addressed to the regent himself, in which he humbly implored forgiveness, procured some mitigation of his confinement, of which he availed himself to effect his escape. It is not known what had inspired La Grange with such a furious animosity against this prince; the invective is carried even to frenzy. This will be seen from the following translation of a few passages: "Scarce did he open his eyelids, when he felt indignant at the barriers which were between him and the throne. In these detestable ideas, he made his only pleasure consist in practising the arts of the Circes and the Medeas; he believed this infernal method capable of removing the obstacie which opposed his desires, .... What divorces, what incests, will be the fruit of his plots! People, arm yourselves, defend your master; this traitor seeks not merely to wrest from him his dominions. The bed of thy Philip is to renew the crimes of Thyestes.... Infamous Heliogabalus !your age returns among us. Voluptuous Sardanapalus! Philip goes farther than you.... Thee (the Dutchess of Berry) who, to the bond which unites you, joinest others which you ought to dread: Neither Messalina nor Julia, are any thing when compared to you.... Pursue this cowardly prince, already vanquished by his fears; make him die as he has lved, in rage and disgrace; upon his guilty head cause to fall the fate of Mithridates, when pressed by the Roman arms; may he, in his extreme despair, have recourse to his own poisons."

Langle. Travels in Spain. 6th edition (the only one avowed by the author) Paris 1808. This work, which is striking by its originality, was condemned by the parliament of Paris in 1788. This disgrace immediately brought it into vogue. The following

account of the condemnation is given in the secret memoirs of the time: "This day, 26 February 1788, the parliament of Paris condemned the "Voyage into Spain," without name of author or printer, to be torn and burnt at the head of the great stair of the palace. The author, however, is understood to be the Marquis de Langle; every one is anxious to see and know him. He is much younger than the Count de Mirabeau, less informed, but gayer, and in common with him, has been persecuted by his family, and has remained exiled for two years in a small provincial town." Langle himself says on the subject of the condemnation of books, "In Spain, if a book be in the least free, they burn it. If ever this book passes the Pyrenees, doubtless it will be burned too. So much the better: joy to the books that are burned! The reader loves burned books; so does the bookseller, and so does the author."

Les Casas. Bartholomew. Examnination of the question, "Whether kings or princes can, by any right or title, and with a safe conscience, alienate citizens and subjects from the royal crown, and subject them to the dominion of another master? a question never so fully treated by any of the doctors." This work of the virtuous Las Casas was suppressed with the greatest care, being thought to touch upon delicate points, in respect to the duties of princes to their subjects. It has been printed twice in Germany, but both editions are equally rare, having been suppressed with equal attention.

Leti. British theatre, or History of Great Britain, (Italian) 1684.This work, first printed in London, was presented by the author to Chas. II. and met at first with a very favour. able reception; but on closer examination, a number of bold sallies were discovered, which made the book be suppressed, and the author dismissed. An English nobleman said to him on this occasion," Leti, you have made

a history for others, and not for your” self: now you should, on the contrary, have made it for yourself, and not for others.

Liszinski. Manuscripta Atheistica. Casimir Liszinski was burnt alive on the 30th March 1689, as an atheist, and his ashes, being put into a cannon, instead of ball, were dispersed in the air. This Polish gentleman was accused of atheism at the diet of Grodno, in 1688, by the Bishop of Potzdam. His condemnation was founded upon writings that were found in his house, in which he advanced several propositions, such as the following: "God is not the creator of man, but man is the creator of a God whom he has drawn out of nothing." These writings contain many other extravagancies of the same kind. The author endeavoured to excuse himself by saying that he had written them down only for the purpose of refuting them; but his excuses could not save him, and he was condemned to the stake.

Libraries burned. The rest of his work relating to single books, the author gives here an account of those which have been committed in a mass to the flames. He begins by the library which was preserved in the temple of Jerusalem. This collection, more estimable by its intrinsic value than by the number of volumes, was burned by order of Antiochus, as is mentioned I. Maccabees, chap. 1.

The famous Sibylline books of Rome were consumed at the burning of the capitol, in the year 671 of Rome, during the period of Sylla's dictatorship. The new Sibylline books, which succeeded the former, were deposited in the temple of Apollo Palatine till 363 A. D., at which time this temple was consumed by fire. They were transported elsewhere, but Stilicho caused them to be thrown into the fire in 406 or 407.

Every reader knows the fate of the celebrated library of Alexandria. In the sixth century, Gregory the

Great

Great caused the books of Pagan authors to be burned, if we may believe John of Sarisbery, a writer of the 12th century, and many other learned men, who have doubtless repeated it after this bishop. What may have given rise to the accusation is the advice which Gregory gave to Didier, archbishop of Vienna, not to amuse himself in teaching grammar, because a bishop has more important occupations. Several modern writers have endeatoured to justify Gregory from this imputation.

The Runic books were committed to the flames by order of Olaus, king of Sweden, at the beginning of the eleventh century. This anecdote has been found by Eric Sohroderus in an ancient manuscript seen by him in 1637. It is there said, that Olaus, ascribing to the Runes the difficulty which the Christian religion found in being introduced into his states, assembled, in 1001, all the great men of his kingdom. In this assembly it was determined that the Roman characters should be substituted for the Runic, and that all books relating to idolatry should be burned. Unfortunately the greater part of those which contained the history and the antiquities of the nation were sacrificed at the same time. It is presumed, that the works of Jorunderus, Gissurus, of SchulemonLanus, and of Alterus Magnus, then perished.

About 1508, Cardinal Ximenes, wishing to convert the Mahometans to the Christian faith, assembled more than three thousand in a spacious square, and made them be baptised;

then he caused all the Mahometan books which he could sweep together, by whatever author, and on whatever subject, to be thrown into the flames; upwards of 5000 volumes, with all their binding and ornaments, were accordingly burned.

In 1510, Maximilian I., emperor of Germany, published an edict, that all Hebrew books, except the Bible,

should be burned, as containing blasphemy, magic, and other things equally dangerous. A celebrated man of learning, John Reuchlin, being consulted upon this point, pled for the preservation of certain part of them which he conceived to be innocent; and this opinion he defended against an attack made upon it in a work called the "Ocular Mirror." This publication was condemned by the doctors of theology, both at Cologne and Paris, who not only censured it, but endeavoured to make the author share the fate of the books which he had attempted to defend. He was protected, however, by the emperor.

A little before the middle of the sixteenth century, Charles V. made a decree, by which he proscribed all heretical books, and prohibited, under pain of death, to read the works of Luther, and other heretics. Soon after, both the books and persons of the protestants were proscribed, in the most barbarous manner, by Mary, Queen of England. An edict was then published, that whoever should possess these books, and should not burn them instantly without reading, or shewing them to any one, should be accounted a rebel, and executed on the spot, according to martial law.

Letters from GENERAL WASHINGTON, to a high literary Character in LONDON.

Philadelphia, Dec. 10, 1798. ESTEEMED SIR,

HEARING that the ship (Suffolk)

by which the inclosed letter was sent, was captured by the French, who never restore any thing of mine, I do, to avoid the imputation of inattention to your favours, and the correspondence with which send honour me, a duplicate, being with very great esteem and regard, Sir, your most obedient and obliged humble servant, GEO. WASHINGTON.

you

Mount

Mount Vernon, 25th July, 1798. ESTEEMED SIR,

Your favour of the 8th Feb. came safe, and would have received an earlier acknowledgment, if any thing had sooner occurred worthy of communication: I hope you have not only got relieved of the fever from which you were then recovering, but of the lan guor with which it had affected you, and that you are now engaged in the literary pursuits of which you gave the outlines, and which, with your pen, and the arrangement of the subjects, must be curious, entertaining, and instructive. Thus persuaded, If you propose to carry the work by way of subscription, it would give me pleasure to be numbered among the subscribers. I little imagined when I took my last leave of the walks of public life, and retired to the shades of my vine and fig, that any event would arise in my day, that would bring me again on a public theatre: but the unjust, ambitious, and intoxicated conduct of France towards these United States, has been, and continues to be such, that they must be opposed by a firm and manly resistance, or we shall not only hazard the subjugation of our Government, but the independence of our nation also; both being, evidently, struck at by a lawless domineering power, who respects no rights, and is restrained by no treaties when it is found inconvenient to observe them.

Thus situated, sustaining daily injuries, even indignities, with a patient forbearance, from a sincere desire to live in peace and harmony with all the world; the French Directory, mistaking the motives and the American character, and supposing that the people of this country were divided, and would give countenance to their nefarious measures, have proceeded to exact loans (or in other words, contributions) and to threaten us, in case of non-compliance with their wild, unfounded, and incoherent complaints,

that we should share the fate of Ve nice, and other Italian States.

This has roused the people from their slumbers, and filled their minds with indignation, from one extremity to the other of the Union; and I trust if they should attempt to carry their threats into effect, and invade our territorial, as they have done our commercial rights, they will arouse a spirit that will give them more trouble than they are aware of, in the citizens of these States. When every thing that is sacred and dear to freemen is thus threatened, I could not, consistent with the principles which have actuated me through life, remain an idle spectator, and refuse to obey the call of my country, to head its armies for DEFENCE: and, therefore, have pledged myself to come forward whenever the exigency shall require it. With what sensations, at my time of life (now turned of sixty-six) without ambition or interest to stimulate me there to, I shall relinquish the peaceful walks to which I had fondly hoped to have spent the remnant of a life worn down with cares, in contemplation on the past, and in the enjoyment of scenes present and to come, of rural growth; let others, and especially those who are best acquainted with my ways of thinking, decide; while I, believing that man was not designed by Providence to live for himself alone, shall prepare for the worst that can happen.

My best wishes always attend you; and with great esteem and regard, I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

GEO. WASHINGTON. [North Wales Gazette.]

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