name is written in capital letters, and St. Maurus, his coadjutor in the government of the monastery of Subiaco, and the reputed founder of the Abbey St. Maur-sur-Loire, comes next in order, and then St. Placidus, another of his most celebrated disciples; and in one of the prayers at the end, after the intercession of the Blessed Virgin and St. Michael, that of St. Benedict is immediately mentioned, express mention being made of none other; and in the Litany, the following petitions occur:-"Ut locum istum visitare atque defendere digneris;""ut episcopos et abbates nostros et omnes congregationes illis commissas in sancta religione conservare digneris."

This Psalter is interesting as a specimen of the Psalters of the period to which it belongs; and for this reason I have given a somewhat detailed account of its contents. The title applied by it to the Athanasian Creed, viz., "Fides Anathasii episcopi," is particularly noticeable, because it gives support to the conjecture of Waterland, that it was owing to a mistake of the copyists, in transposing the letters of the word "Athanasius," that the Creed was attributed to Anastasius-a circumstance which he had observed in German copies for five or six hundred years, and of which several instances occur in the Oxford MS. previously mentioned, Laud, 493. But it seems also to show that the first step in the error was not the substitution of Anasthasius, as he supposes, but (that which would occur more easily and simply) of Anathasius for Athanasius. Then, by the insertion of an s, the word was changed to Anasthasius, as it is

found in a MS. belonging to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The last step was to omit the h, in order to arrive at the more common and better-known name of Anastasius.

This MS. was unknown to Waterland. In fact, the Canonici MSS. are a comparatively recent acquisition of the Bodleian Library, having been purchased in 1817. They were originally collected by Matheo Luigi Canonici, an Italian Jesuit, who died in 1805 or 1806.

PARIS, BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE, 11,550.

This is a large and magnificent Psalter of the eleventh century, formerly the property of the Abbey of St. Germain des Près, as we learn from a memorandum on the first page: "Bibliotheca S. Germani a Pratis, Psalterium cum explicationibus ad margines appositis, Hymni, Cantica, Litaniæ amplissimæ cum orationibus plurimis." It is written in three columns, the text occupying the central one, the notes, or exposition, those on each side. The Psalter is preceded by the treatises commencing, "Beatus igitur David rex magnus," and "Origo prophetiæ David regis." These are followed immediately by two pictures. The first is of the Crucifixion, painted on a purple ground, and covering the whole page. Our Lord is crowned, His head surrounded with a nimbus, His body vested from the waist to the feet, each foot nailed separately, the arms not hanging down at all, but stretched straight along the transverse beams of the cross. At the foot of the cross, on each side, stand

the Blessed Virgin and St. John, each with a nimbus. Above are the sun and moon, the former represented as a man with rays of light issuing from his head, the latter as a female with a half-moon upon her head and a staff in her left hand. The letters A and w also appear above the cross. Around are the Evangelistic symbols. The other picture, which is on the next leaf, represents David with a harp in his hand, surrounded by musicians and singers. The initial B of the first Psalm is very large, occupying almost an entire page; it is very elaborately decorated with interlacings and leaves, and is painted in red and yellow on a green ground; surrounding it is an ornamental border. Each Psalm has a prayer subjoined. The "Pusillus eram appears after the 150th Psalm. The usual Old Testament Canticles follow; then, successively, the Benedicite, closing with the words, "Benedicamus Patrem et Filium cum Spiritu Sancto, laudemas et superexaltemus eum in sæcula; the Te Deum, entitled, "Hymnus et oratio in laude Domini; "the Benedictus; the Magnificat; the Nunc dimittis; the Gloria in excelsis, entitled, "Laus Angelica;" the Lord's Prayer; the Apostles' Creed; and, lastly, the Athanasian, introduced by the Rubric: "Incipit Fides Catholica a Sancto Athanasio episcopo edita." The Gloria Patri is added at the end. The collations of the text will be found in Appendix, Note I. There are no notes, or exposition, annexed to the Quicunque, nor to the Benedicite, nor to the Te Deum; the Old Testament Canticles are also without them. So that the manuscript would seem to be

incomplete, as it was probably intended to add them. They are found with all the other Canticles, as well as with the Psalms, the Gloria in excelsis, the Lord's Prayer, and the Apostles' Creed. After the Athanasian Creed, follow a great number of hymns for various occasions, for daily use, and for festivals and holy days; then a long Litany, and some prayers close the volume. Among the petitions in the Litany are the following:-" Ut domnum apostolicum et omnes gradus ecclesiæ in sancta religione conservare digneris;""ut regibus et principibus nostris pacem et veram concordiam atque victoriam donare digneris ; "ut episcopos et abbates nostros et omnes congregationes illis commissas in sancta religione conservare digneris."

PARIS, 2341.

A bulky volume, comprising apparently three originally distinct volumes, but written throughout in handwriting of the same character. By the catalogue, it is assigned to the ninth century; but by the present authorities of the MS. department at the Bibliothèque Nationale, it is held to be of the tenth century, not earlier. It contains, inter alia, a series of professions of Faith, the Athanasian Creed being in the number. They are preceded by the following list of titles:-"I. Exemplar fidei catholice niceni concilii. II. Fides catholica a sanctis patribus exposita. III. Damnatio blasphemiae arrii. IIII. Fides catholica dicta a sancto athanasio episcopo alexandrino. V. Fides catholica dicta a sancto iheronymo

presbitero. VI. Fides catholica dicta a sancto Gregorio cæsariensis episcopo. VII. Fides catholica ab ortodoxis patribus exposita. VIII. Fides catholica

sancti valeriani episcopi. VIIII. Fides catholica sancti gregorii majoris. X. Fides catholica a sanctis patribus exposita. XI. Fides catholica sancti ambrosii episcopi. XII. Dogma sanctorum patrum trecentorum X. et VIII. episcoporum." The Athanasian Creed appears on f. 149, with the same title as above. The collations of the text may be seen in Appendix, Note I. Then the Damasi Symbolum,' entitled, “ Fides dicta a sancto Hieronymo presbitero -the title which it bears, it should be observed, in the next-mentioned MS. also, Paris, 2076, a MS. of the same period, as well as in a MS. of De Thou, No. 199, noticed by Quesnel, in his dissertation "De variis fidei libellis." It is worthy of note that in all these three MSS. this profession of Faith is found without the filioque; all have, "Spiritum Sanctum . . . de Patre procedentem.” The profession of Faith following that of Gregory of Neocæsarea, or Thaumaturgus, is the 'Fides Romanorum,' the same which is sometimes attributed to Athanasius, and is quoted as his by Hincmar, and has been edited by Chifflet as the ninth book of Vigilius de Trinitate. It is here entitled, "Exemplar fidei catholice ”—a different title from that assigned to it in the list of titles. This title it has also in the De Thou MS. recently mentioned, and there, as here, it follows the Damasi Symbolum,' and the Profession of Gregory

1 GALLANDII 'Sylloge Dissertationum,' tom. 1. p. 814. Edit. 1790.

-a