having caused it to be written by the most able Greek scribe of the time, and ornamented with many drawings and colored figures*. The volume is of a small folio size, and is written upon fine smooth paper, like that of the Levant. It contains 104 leaves, and at the end is the subscription, copied at the foot of the Plate, which may be translated-" The present volume was written at Paris, in the reign of King Henry II., by the hand of Angelus Vergecius, of the Isle of Crete, in the year 1554." The scribe Angelus Vergecius was one of the most skilful Greek calligraphers of modern times. He was invited to Paris by Francis I., who directed him to draw up a catalogue of his Greek manuscripts, which is still carefully preserved. He transcribed a great number of Greek manuscripts, both in Italy and France, between the years 1535 and 1566, more than twenty of which are now in the Bibliothèque Royale, and among them the copy of the works of Euclid, presented by Vergecius to the Chancellor De l'Hôpital, afterwards in the Colbert collection. His talent gained him the protection of four successive monarchs, since he did not die until the reign of Charles IX. The perfection of his writing acquired so great a reputation, that it was said to have served as a model for the Greek type of the royal printing establishment in France, whilst his name is supposed to have been the origin of the proverb, "He writes like an angel." The fac-simile fully bears out the praises given to his writing, and exhibits a beautiful specimen of round, elegant, regular cursive Greek minuscules, with the same spirits, accents, punctuation, and contractions which have been long * For a more detailed account of this volume, and a representation of its binding, see the Notices et Extraits des MSS. de la Bibl. Royale, tom. v. p. 632, and Willemin, Monuments Français inédits, pl. 287, tom. ii. p. 64.- ED. VOL. I. R adopted in print. The first line alone has a majuscule letter, an Є of the ordinary capital form; the initials of the other lines being in the ordinary cursive characters. A miniature is painted at the head of the text, representing Oppian, the author of the work, presenting his treatise to the Emperor Caracalla; on which occasion he solicited, as a recompense, the liberty of his father, a senator who had been exiled for his opposition to Septimus Severus, and his request was granted by the Emperor. This miniature will give an idea of the pictorial art in the manuscript; and it may be added, that those paintings which illustrate the treatise of Oppian (which are not the best in the volume) are attributed to the daughter of Angelus Vergecius. This precious manuscript was brought from the old royal library at Fontainebleau. PLATE XCIII. CAPITAL AND CURSIVE GREEK WRITING. XVITH CENTURY. TREATISE ON PROVIDENCE, BY ANASTASIUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH. GREAT difficulty has been experienced by the writers of ecclesiastical history in distinguishing between the various persons who bore the name of Anastasius, bishop or patriarch of Antioch, and the difficulty is increased by the circumstance, that several of these persons originally came from Mount Sinai in Palestine. Many works bearing the name of Anastasius of Antioch, have been attributed by critics to various writers of that name, who lived in the fifth and sixth, and even in the eleventh century. The title of the Treatise on Providence, of which the first page is represented in the Plate, states its author to have been St. Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch,-Tor AгIOY ANAΣΤΑΣΙΟΥ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΟΥ ΑΝΤΟΧΕΙΑΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΠΡΟΝΟΙΑΣ; leaving us in doubt whether it alludes to Anastasius III., who lived in the seventh century, or Anastasius IV., who lived in the eleventh century. The treatise in question is not only inedited, but scarcely known to Greek critics. It is not mentioned by Fabricius, in the list of the writings of St. Anastasius, inserted in his Bibliotheca Græca, vol. ix., published in 1719, but is preserved in a manuscript belonging to the Communal Library of Rheims, and was first noticed by Montfaucon, in vol. i. of his Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum Manuscriptorum Nova, published in 1739. At page 1288 is a catalogue of the Greek manuscripts of the Abbey of St. Remy, at Rheims, in which is mentioned a volume written upon cotton paper, No. 517, containing various writings of Theodoret, Nicetas Choniates, Johannes Damascenus, Maximus, and Origen, and including the treatise upon Providence by Anastasius. Harles, who re-edited and considerably augmented the work of Fabricius in 1807, noticed in vol. x., p. 595, note dd., the indication of this treatise given by Montfaucon, beyond which no other mention occurs, either of the manuscript, or of the treatise itself. The manuscript in question was written by Constantine Palæocappas, a skilful Greek calligrapher (mentioned hereafter in the account of the Slavonic Evangelistarium of Rheims), by whom several other volumes now in the Bibliothèque Royale were written, one of which commences with a Latin dedication to the King Henry II. The present nearly contemporary manuscript also bears a dedication, contained in the ornament at the head of the fac-simile. An obelisc, with a crescent at its apex, rests upon a wide pedestal, which is ornamented with a rich escutcheon, surmounted by a cardinal's hat, and bears the Latin inscription, CARO[o] CARDI[nali] LOTHARIN[gia] ARCH[iepiscopo] DUCI RHEM[ensi], which designates the person to whom the volume is dedicated, Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorraine, Archbishop-Duke of Rheims, who died in 1574. The motto ΣΟΥ ΣΤΑΝΤΟΣ ΧΛΟΑΣΩ, written at the sides of the obelisc, alludes to the ivy branch twined round it, which will flourish as long as the obelisc itself remains standing; by which the calligrapher ingeniously intimates the protection afforded to him by the powerful cardinal. The letters of this device are written in small square Greek capitals. The title of the treatise is written in large finely-proportioned capitals, in alternate colors of blue, red, and green; and the text is in a fine conjoined cursive character, many of the letters, and even entire words being written with an uninterrupted stroke of the pen; a mode of writing adopted by the calligraphers in imitation of the tachygraphers, subsequent to the ninth century. It is rare, however, to meet with any ancient* cursive manuscripts written so elegantly as the one before us; which is indeed very recent, being of the sixteenth century, and presents a fine and perfect specimen of modern Greek writing. The first letter is a , ornamented with foliage; the first line being, Θαμβεῖται πᾶσα ἡ τῶν ἀνθρῶπων φύσις. The word in the margin, ipwreσis, announces the question, which is the subject of the text: the spirits and accents are of the modern form. *This remark is wholly misapplied, since no ancient manuscript exists written in such a style.-ED. PLATE XCIV. GREEK WRITING. XVIITH CENTURY. LECTIONARIUM OF THE GREEK CHURCH. THE miserable state to which the Greek Church and nation were reduced beneath the authority of the Turks, until the recent period of their regeneration, their political condition, and even the vicissitudes of their perpetual vassalage, deprived them of the more ordinary advantages possessed by nations more free and more civilized. The introduction of the art of printing into Christian Greece was thus prevented, and hence the existence of manuscripts for the use of the Greek Church, written at a very modern period, and often at great expense, when the more economical practice of printing was generally diffused over Europe. The Greek manuscript from whence the present fac-simile has been taken, is one of these recent manuscripts, having been written as late as the seventeenth century, but it is, nevertheless, remarkable for its fine execution, as well as for its miniatures and for its binding, which is by a Slavonic hand. It is written upon strong smooth paper, manufactured in Europe, bearing the letters A C for its water-mark in one part of the leaf, and three crescents in another part. The first page is occupied by a vignette heightened with gold, and the text which follows, as well as the whole of the succeeding page, are written in gold. An initial letter of large size, composed of flowers, leaves, or animals, skilfully arranged, occurs at the commencement of each chapter, the first lines of |