eeking the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life, not
knowing, indeed, the Scripture, that "the letter killeth, but the spirit
maketh alive."

Such a theory as that advanced in "Alchemy and the Alchemists" opens a
new chapter in the visible and invisible of a library of Hermetic
Philosophy.

The most ancient specimens of calligraphy extant are probably the
Terence of the fourth century and the Virgil of the fifth century, in
the Vatican Library. Alas for those who have no open sesame to that
collection! We shall never forget our disappointment upon entering the
Vatican. We could not gaze even on the mouldy vellum or faded leather of
old bindings, and saw nothing but stupid modern painted cases, bodies
quite unworthy of the souls they hid. Gladly would we have laid aside
our theory concerning unseen treasures, and looked that great collection
face to face.

"The taste for the external decoration of manuscripts," says Labarte,
(whose interesting "Hand-Book on the Arts of the Middle Ages" has been
admirably translated by Mrs. Palliser,) "already existed among the
ancients. Marcus Varro called forth the praises of Cicero for having
traced in his book the portraits of more than seven hundred celebrated
persons; Seneca, in his treatise 'De Tranquillitate Animi,' speaks of
books ornamented with figures; and Martial addresses his thanks to
Stertinius, who had placed his portrait in his library."

These ancient works of Art have vanished, none have survived the stormy
passage of ages, yet this casual mention of them carries us into the
otherwise invisible past. We see the seven hundred portraits in Marcus
Varro's book, and walk into the library of Stertinius to give our
opinion of the portrait of Martial.

"The miniatures of manuscripts were long considered," says Labarte,
"only as ornaments. Montfaucon was the first to recognize their
usefulness as historical documents. To possess manuscripts of the Middle
Ages with miniatures is in fact to possess a gallery of contemporaneous
pictures."

The most beautiful specimen of ancient illuminated manuscript we have
seen in this country belongs to the Honorable Charles Sumner. It is a
missal of the fifteenth century, of finest quality. Several of the
miniatures might well be claimed as the work of Van Eyck. The
frontispiece consists of the portrait of the lady for whose devotions
the book was prepared. She kneels before the Madonna, while her patron
saint stands beside her.