bibliomaniacs will not permit us to accede to. In
consequence, Sir Robert declared to his friends, "that they
had broken his heart who had locked up his library from
him:" which declaration he solemnly repeated to the Privy
Council. In the year 1631, this great and good man closed
his eyes for ever upon mortal scenes; upon those whom he
gladdened by his benevolence, and improved by his wisdom.
Such was the man, of whom Gale has thus eloquently
spoken:--"quisquis bona fide Historiam nostram per omne aevum
explicare sataget, nullum laudatum Scriptorem a se
desiderari exoptarique posse, quem COTTONIANUS ille
incomparabilis thesaurus promptissime non exhibebit: Ea est,
et semper fuit, nobilis Domus ergo literatos
indulgentia--Hujus fores (ut illae Musaram, apud Pindarum)
omnibus patent. Testes apello Theologos, Antiquarios,
Jurisconsultos, Bibliopolas; qui quidem omnes, ex Cottoniana
Bibliotheca, tanquam ex perenni, sed et communi fonte, sine
impensis et molestia, abunde hauserunt." _Rer. Anglic.
Script. Vet._, vol. i., praef., p. 3. The loss of such a
character--the deprivation of such a patron--made the whole
society of book-collectors tremble and turn pale. Men began
to look sharply into their libraries, and to cast a
distrustful eye upon those who came to consult and to copy:
for the spirit of COTTON, like the ghost of Hamlet's father,
was seen to walk, before cock-crow, along the galleries and
balconies of great collections, and to bid the owners of
them "remember and beware"!--But to return. The library of
this distinguished bibliomaniac continued under
sequestration some time after his death, and was preserved
entire, with difficulty, during the shock of the civil wars.
In the year 1712, it was removed to Essex House, in
Essex-street, Strand, where it continued till the year 1730,
when it was conveyed back to Westminster, and deposited in
Little Dean's Yard. In October, 1731, broke out that
dreadful fire, which Hearne (_Benedict. Abbat._, vol. i.,
praef. p. xvi.) so pathetically deplores; and in which the
nation so generally sympathized--as it destroyed and
mutilated many precious volumes of this collection. Out of
958 volumes, 97 were destroyed, and 105 damaged. In the year
1753 the library, to the honour of the age