unseen at first, the seed of good fruit.
Of these, was a resolution adopted at the second meeting, and thus set
forth by the historian in his own peculiar style: "It was proposed and
concluded for each member of the club to reprint a scarce piece of
ancient lore to be given to the members, one copy to be on vellum for
the chairman, and only as many copies as members."

The earliest productions following on this resolution were on a very
minute scale. One member, stimulated to distinguish himself by "a merry
conceited jest," reprinted a French morsel called "La Contenance de la
Table," and had it disposed of in such wise, that as each guest opened
his napkin expecting to find a dinner-roll, he disclosed the
typographical treasure. It stands No. 6 on the list of Roxburghe books,
and is probably worth an enormous sum. The same enthusiast reprinted in
a more formal manner a rarity called "News from Scotland, declaring the
damnable life of Dr Fian, a notable sorcerer," &c. This same morsel was
afterwards reprinted for another club, in a shape calculated almost to
create a contemptuous contrast between the infantine efforts of the
Roxburghe and the manly labours of its robust followers. It is inserted
as what the French call a _piece justificative_ in Pitcairn's Criminal
Trials, edited for the Bannatyne, and there occupies ten of the more
than 2000 pages which make up that solid book.

It was not until the year 1827 that a step was taken by the Roxburghe
Club which might be called its first exhibition of sober manhood. Some
of the members, ashamed of the paltry nature of the volumes circulated
in the name of the club, bethought themselves of uniting to produce a
book of national value. They took Sir Frederick Madden into their
counsels, and authorised him to print eighty copies of the old metrical
romance of Havelok the Dane. This gave great dissatisfaction to the
historian, who muttered how "a MS. not discovered by a member of the
club was selected, and an excerpt obtained, not furnished by the
industry or under the inspection of any one member, nor edited by a
member; but, in fact, after much _pro_ and _con._, it was made a
complete hireling concern, truly at the expense of the club, from the
copying to the publishing."

The value of this book has been attested by the extensive critical
examination it has received, and by the serviceable aid it has given to
all recent writers on the infancy of English literature. It was f