Volume III Part 11 (1/2)
[92] It should seem, from the pages of PEZ and NIDa.n.u.s, that Charlemagne was either the founder, or the patron, or endower, of almost every monastery in Germany. Stengelius, however, gives a a very romantic origin to the foundation of Chremsminster. ”The eldest son of Ta.s.silo, a Duke or Elector of Bavaria, went out a hunting in the winter; when, having been separated from his companions, in a large wood, he met a wild boar of an enormous size, near a fountain and pool of water.
Notwithstanding the fearful odds between them, Ta.s.silo gallantly received the animal upon the point of his hunting spear, and dispatched him with a tremendous wound: not however without a fatal result to himself. Rage, agony, and over exertion... proved fatal to the conqueror: and when, excited by the barking of the dogs, his father and the troop of huntsmen came up to see what it might be, they witnessed the spectacle of the boar and the young Ta.s.silo lying DEAD by the side of each other. The father built the MONASTERY of CHREMSMINSTER upon the fatal spot--to the memory of his beloved but unfortunate son. He endowed it with large possessions, and his endowments were confirmed by Pope Adrian and the Emperor Charlemagne--in the year 777. The history of the monastery is lost in darkness, till the year 1046, when Engelbert, Bishop of Pa.s.sau, consecrated it anew; and in 1165, Diepold, another Bishop of Pa.s.sau, added greatly to its possessions; but he was, in other respects, as well as Manegold in 1206, a very violent and mischievous character.
Bishop Ulric, in 1216, was a great benefactor to it; but I do not perceive when the present building was erected: although it is possible there may be portions of it as old as the thirteenth century.
See _Pez: Script. Rer. Austriac._, vol. i. col. 1305, &c.: _vol. ii._ col. 67, &c. At the time of publis.h.i.+ng the _Monasteriologia of Stengelius_, 1638, (where there is a bird's-eye view of the monastery, as it now generally appears) Wolffradt (or Wolfardt) was the Abbot--who, in the author's opinion, ”had no superior among his predecessors.” I go a great way in thinking with Stengelius; for this worthy Abbot built the Monks a ”good supper-room, two dormitories, a sort of hospital for the sick, and a LIBRARY, with an abundant stock of new books. Also a sacristy, furnished with most costly robes, &c.
_Monasteriologia_; sign. A. It was doubtless the BIBLIOTHECA WOLFRADTIANA in which I tarried--as above described--with equal pleasure and profit.
[93] See vol. ii. p. 199.
[94] This I presume to be the ”spurious” Birmingham edition, which is noticed by Steevens in the _Edit. Shakspeare_, 1813. 8vo. vol.
ii. p. 151.
[95] They were both secured. One copy is now in the ALTHORP LIBRARY, and the other in that of Mr. Heber.
[96] On the very night of my arrival at Lintz, late as it was, I wrote a letter to the Abbot, or head of the monastery, addressed thus--as the Professor had written it down: ”_Ad Reverendissimum Dominum Anselmum Mayerhoffer inclyti Monasterii Cremifanensis Abbatem vigilantissimum Cremifanum_.” This was enclosed in a letter to the Professor himself with the following direction: ”_Ad Rev. Dm. Udalric.u.m Hartenschneider Professum Monasterij Cremifanensis et Historiae ibidem Professorem public.u.m. Cremifanum_:” the Professor having put into my hands the following written memorandum: ”Pro commutandis--quos designasti in Bibliotheca nostra, libris--primo Abbatem adire, aut litteris saltem interrogare necesse est: quas, si tibi placuerit, ad me dirigere poteris.”
[Autograph]
This he wrote with extreme rapidity. In my letter, I repeated the offer about the Monasticon; with the addition of about a dozen napoleons for the early printed books above mentioned; requesting to have an answer, poste restante, at Vienna. No answer has since reached me. The Abbot should seem to have preferred Statius to Dugdale. [But his Statius NOW has declined wofully in pecuniary worth: while the Dugdale, in its newly edited form, has risen threefold.]
LETTER IX.
THE MONASTERIES OF ST. FLORIAN, MoLK, AND GoTTWIC.
_Vienna; Hotel of the Emperor of Hungary, Aug. 31, 1818._
MY DEAR FRIEND;
Give me your heartiest congratulations; for I have reached, and am well lodged at, the extreme limit of my ”BIBLIOGRAPHICAL, ANTIQUARIAN, AND PICTURESQUE TOUR.” Behold me, therefore, at VIENNA, the capital of Austria: once the abode of mighty monarchs and renowned chieftains: and the scene probably of more political vicissitudes than any other capital in Europe.
The ferocious Turk, the subtle Italian, and the impetuous Frenchman, have each claimed Vienna as their place of residence by right of conquest; and its ramparts have been probably battered by more bullets and b.a.l.l.s than were ever discharged at any other fortified metropolis.
At present, however, my theme must be entirely monastic. Prepare, therefore, to receive an account of some MONASTIC VISITS, which have perfectly won my heart over to the Inst.i.tutions of ST. BENEDICT and ST.
AUGUSTIN. Indeed I seem to have been mingling with a new set of human beings, and a new order of things; though there was much that put me in mind of the general character of my ever-cherished University of Oxford.
Not that there is _any one_ college, whether at Oxford or at Cambridge, which in point of architectural magnificence, can vie with some of those which I am about to describe. My last letter, as you may remember, left us upon the point of starting from Lintz, for the monastery of ST. FLORIAN.
That monastery is situated within about three miles of _Ens_, the next post town from Lintz. The road thither was lined, on each side, with the plum and the pear tree--in their alternate tints of saffron and purple--but far from being ripe. The sight, altogether, was as pleasing as it was novel: and especially were my spirits gladdened, on thinking of the fortunate escape from the perils that had seemed to have awaited us in our route from Chremsminster the preceding evening.
On turning out of the main road, about a dozen miles from Lintz, we began to be sensible of a gentle ascent,--along a pleasant, undulating road, skirted by meadows, copses, and corn-fields. In ten minutes, the valet shouted out--”_Voila le Monastere de St. Florian!_” It was situated upon an eminence, of scarcely half the height of Chremsminster; but, from the abruptness of the ascent, as you enter the village, and make towards the monastery, it appears, on an immediate approach, to be of a very considerable elevation. It looked n.o.bly, as we neared it. The walls were ma.s.sive, and seemed to be embedded in a foundation of granite. Some pleasing little cultivated spots, like private gardens, were between the outer walls and the main body of the building. It rained heavily as we rolled under the archway; when an old man and an old woman demanded, rather with astonishment than severity, what was the object of our visit? Having received a satisfactory answer, the gates were opened, and we stopped between two magnificent flights of steps, leading on each side to the cloisters. Several young monks, excited by the noise of the carriage, came trooping towards the top of the stairs, looking down upon us, and retreating, with the nimbleness and apparent timidity of deer. Their white streamers, or long lappets, suspended from the back of the black gown, (the designation of the _Augustine_ order) had a very singular appearance.
Having received a letter of recommendation to the librarian, M. KLEIN, I delivered it to the porter--and in a few seconds observed two short monks uncovered, advancing towards me. M. Klein spoke French--after a certain fas.h.i.+on--which however made us understand one another well enough; and on walking along the cloisters, he took me by the arm to conduct me to the Abbot. ”But you have doubtless _dined_?” observed he,--turning sharply upon me. It was only between one and two o'clock; and therefore I thought I might be pardoned, even by the severest of their own order, for answering in the _negative_. My guide then whispered to his attendant (who quickly disappeared) and carried me directly to the Abbot. Such a visit was worth paying. I entered with great solemnity; squeezing my travelling cap into a variety of forms, as I made obeisance,--on observing a venerable man, nearer fourscore than seventy, sitting, with a black cap quite at the back part of his head, and surrounded by half a dozen young monks, who were standing and waiting upon him with coffee (after dinner) which was placed upon the table before him. He was the Princ.i.p.al. The old gentleman's countenance was wan, and rather severely indented, but lighted up by a dark and intelligent pair of eyes. His shoulders were shrouded in a large gray fur tippet; and, on receiving me, he demonstrated every mark of attention--by giving his unfinished cup of coffee to one of his attendants, and, pulling off his cap, endeavouring to rise. I advanced and begged there might be no further movement. As he spoke French, we quickly understood each other. He bade me see every thing that was worth seeing; and, on his renewing the _dinner_ question, and receiving an answer in the negative, he commanded that a meal of some sort should be forthwith got ready. In this, however, he had been antic.i.p.ated by the librarian.
I made my retreating bow, and followed my guide who, by this time, had a.s.sumed quite a pleasant air of familiarity with me. I accompanied him to the Library. It is divided into three rooms; of which the largest, at the further end, is the most characteristic. The central room is small, and devoted to MSS. none as I learnt, either very old, very curious, or very valuable. The view from this suite of apartments must, on a fine day, be lovely. Bad as was the weather, when I looked from the windows, I observed, to the left, some gently sloping and sweetly wooded pleasure grounds, with the town of _Ens_, in the centre, at the distance of about three miles. To the right, were more undulating hills, with rich meadows in the foreground; while, immediately below, was the ornamented garden of the monastery.
The prospect _within_ doors was not quite of so gratifying a description.
It seemed to be the mere shadow of a library. Of old books, indeed, I saw nothing worth noticing--except a white and crackling, but cropt, copy of _Ratdolt's Appian_ of 1478, (always a beautiful book) and a _Latin Version of Josephus_, printed at Venice in 1480 by _Maufer_, a citizen of Rouen.
This latter was really a very fine book. There was also _Ratdolt's Euclid_ of 1485--which indeed is every where abroad--but which generally has variations in the marginal diagrams. Of _Bibles_, either Latin or German, I saw nothing more ancient than the edition by Sorg, in the _German_ language of the date of 1477. I paused an instant over the _Tyturell_ of 1477, (the only really scarce book in the collection) and threw a gilded bait before the librarian, respecting the acquisition of it;--but M. Klein quite _screamed_ aloud at the proposition--protesting that ”not a single leaf from a single book should be parted with!” ”You are quite right,” added I.
”My guide eyed me as if he could have said, ”How much at variance are your thoughts and words!” And yet I spake very sincerely. Mr. Klein then placed a clean, but cropt, copy of the _first Aldine Pindar_ before me; adding, that he understood it to be rare. ”It is most rare,” rejoined I:--but it is yet ”rarer than most rare” when found UPON VELLUM!--as it is to be seen in Lord Spencer's library.” He seemed absolutely astonished at this piece of intelligence--and talked about its pecuniary value. ”No money can purchase it. It is beyond all price”--rejoined I. Whereupon my guide was struck with still deeper astonishment.
There were all the _Polyglott Bibles_, with the exception of the _Complutensian_; which appears to be uncommon in the princ.i.p.al libraries upon the continent. _Walton's Polyglott_ was the Royal copy; which led to a slight discussion respecting the Royal and Republican copies. M. Klein received most implicitly all my bibliographical doctrine upon the subject, and expressed a great desire to read Dr. Adam Clarke's Essay upon the same.
When I spoke of the small number of copies upon LARGE PAPER, he appeared to marvel more than ever--and declared ”how happy the sight of such a copy would make him, from his great respect for the Editor!” There was a poor sprinkle of _English books_; among which however, I noticed Shakspeare, Milton, Swift, and Thomson; I had declared myself sufficiently satisfied with the inspection of the library, when dinner was announced; but could not reconcile it to myself to depart, without asking ”whether they had the _Tewrdanckh_?” ”Yes, and UPON VELLUM, too!” was the Librarian's reply. It was a good sound copy.