Athenæum of the 17th inst. a quotation from the Life of Goldsmith by Irving, in which the biographer seems to take credit for appropriating to Goldsmith the merit of originating the remark or maxim vulgarly ascribed to Talleyrand, that "the true end of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them."

This is certainly found in No. 3. of The Bee, by Goldsmith, and no doubt Talleyrand acted upon the principle of dissimulation there enunciated; but the idea is much older than either of those individuals, as we learn from a note in p. 113. of vol. lxvii. Quart. Rev. quoting two lines written by Young (nearly one hundred years before), in allusion to courts:—

Voltaire has used the same expression so long ago as 1763, in his little satiric dialogue La Chapon et la Poularde, where the former, complaining of the treachery of men says, "Ils n'emploient les paroles que pour déguiser leurs pénsees." (see xxix. tom. Oeuvres Complétes, pp. 83, 84. ed. Paris, 1822.)

The germ of the idea is also to be found in Lloyd's State Worthies, where speaking of Roger Ascham, he is characterised as "an honest man,—none being more able for, yet none more averse to, that circumlocution and contrivance wherewith some men shadow their main drift and purpose. Speech was made to open man to man, and not to hide him; to promote commerce, and not betray it."

Lloyd's book first appeared in 1665, but I use the ed. by Whitworth, vol. i. p. 503.

F.R.A.

Oak House, Nov. 21. 1849.

[The further communications proposed to us by F.R.A. will be very acceptable.]

ANCIENT LIBRARIES—LIBRARY OF THE AUGUSTINIAN EREMITES OF YORK.

Mr. Editor,—I have been greatly interested by the two numbers of the "NOTES AND QUERIES" which you have sent me. The work promises to be eminently useful, and if furnished with a good index at the end of each yearly volume, will become a book indispensable to all literary men, and especially to those who, like myself, are in charge of large public libraries.

To testify my good will to the work, and to follow up Mr. Burtt's remarks on ancient libraries published in your second number, I venture to send you the following account of a MS. Catalogue of the Library of the Monastery of the Friars Eremites of the Order of St. Augustine in the City of York.

This MS. is now preserved in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin, amongst the MSS. formerly belonging to the celebrated Archbishop Ussher. It is on vellum, written in the 14th century, and begins thus:—

"Inventarium omnium librorum pertinentium ad commune armariole domus Ebor. ordinis fratrum heremitarum Sancti Augustini, factum in presentia fratrum Johannis de Ergum, Johannis Ketilwell, Ricardi de Thorpe, Johannis de Appilby, Anno domini Mº. CCC lxxij in festo nativitatis virginis gloriose. Fratre Willelmo de Stayntoun tunc existente priore."

The volume consists of forty-five leaves, and contains the titles of a very large and most respectable collection of books in all departments of literature and learning arranged under the following heads:—

Biblie.
Hystorie scholastice.
Textus biblie glosati.
Postille.
Concordancie et interpretaciones nominum hebreorum.
Originalia. [Under this head are included the
works of the Fathers, and medieval writers.]
Historie geneium.
Summe doctorum. Scriptores super sententias.
quodlibet. et questiones.
Tabulæ. [This division contained Indexes to
various authors, the Scriptures, canon law,
&c.]
Logicalia et philosophia cum scriptis et commentis.
Prophecie et supersticiosa.
Astronomia et Astrologia.
Instrumenta astrologica magistri Johannis Erghome
[who appears to have been a great
benefactor to the Library].
Libri divini officii magistri Johannis Erghome.
Jura civilia.
Jura canonica et leges humane: magistri Johannis
Erghome.
Auctores et philosophi extranei. [Under this
head occurs the following entry, "Liber hebraice
scriptus."]
Gramatica.
Rethorica. [Two leaves of the MS. appear to
have been cut out here.]
Medicina.
Hystorie et cronice.
Sermones et materie sermonum.
Summe morales doctorum et sermones.
Arithmetica, Musica, Geometria, Perspectiva,
magistri Johannis Erghome.

Each volume is identified, according to the usual practice, by the words with which its second folio begins: and letters of tha alphabet are added, probably to indicate its place on the shelves of the Library. As a specimen, I shall give the division headed "Biblie":—

BIBLIE

A. Biblia. incipit in 2º. fo. Samuel in¹ heli.
B. Biblia. incipit in 2º. fo. Zechieli qui populo.
in duobus voluminibus.
C. Biblia. inc't. in 2º. fo. mea et in crane.
D. Biblia. inc't. in 2º. fo. ego disperdam.
¶ Libri magistri Johannis Erghome
Biblia. 2º. fol ravit quosdam. }
Interpretationes. }—A
E. Biblia incomplet. diversarum scripturarum.
quondam fratris R. Bossal. 2º. fo. me
occidet me etc.

HYSTORIE SCOLASTICE

A. Incipit in 2º. folio. secunda die.
B. inci't. in 2º. fo. emperio sane formatis. ligatus.
C. inci't. in 2º. fo. et celumque celi.

The words printed in Italics are added by a more recent hand. Under the head of "Hystorie Scolastice" are doubtless intended the copies which the Library possessed of the celebrated Historia Scholastica, or abridgement of Scripture history by Peter Comestor.

From the foregoing specimen, I think your readers will agree with me that a Catalogue of such antiquity and interest is well worthy of publication.

But we have another ancient Catalogue of a monastic library equally curious, and even more important from its magnitude, and the numerous works it contains on English history, early romances, &c. I remain, &c.

JAMES H. TODD.

Trin. Coll. Dublin, Nov. 27. 1849.

Footnote 1:(return)

Sic perhaps a mistake for et.

DEFENCE OF A BALD HEAD—THE STATIONERS' REGISTERS.

I am about to supply a deficiency in my last volume of Extracts from the Register of the Stationers' Company (printed for the Shakespeare Society, 1849), and thereby set an example that I hope will be followed, in order that various works, regarding which I could give no, or only incomplete, information, may be duly illustrated. It is impossible to expect that any one individual could thoroughly accomplish such an undertaking; and, by means of your excellent periodical, it will be easy for literary men, who possess scarce or unique books, mentioned in the Registers and in my quotations from them, to furnish such brief descriptions as will be highly curious and very useful.

A tract of this description has just fallen in my way, and it relates to the subsequent entry on p. 97. of vol. ii. of my Extracts: the date is 22nd September, 1579.

"H. Denham. Lycensed unto him, &c. A Paradox, provinge by reason and example that baldnes is much better than bushie heare. vj'd"

When I wrote the comment on this registration I