of the instructors of the Emperor Julian. There are a great number of letters extant of the Greek and Latin Fathers, which are of much value to the ecclesiastical student, for they represent more truly the social and religious life of the early Church than all the theological treatises. To show the vast extent of this literature we might mention that there are extant of the letters of St. Basil about 400, of St. Ambrose, 191; of St. Chrysostom, 242; of St. Cyprian, 81; of St. Augustine, 270; and of St. Jerome, 150. The 100 letters of Origen, which were collected by Eusebius, are unfortunately lost. Besides these there are hundreds of others belonging to the third, fourth, and fifth centuries. The Epistles of Sidonius Apollinaris,' who lived about 430 A.D., must not be forgotten, for the historical information they afford us. For many years preceding the Renaissance there was little added worthy of notice to our epistolary literature. The epistles written in the eleventh and twelfth centuries scarcely come within the domain of familiar or historical letters. At the revival of learning the epistles of Petrarch and those of the learned Poggio Bracciolini are of great historic value. The correspondence of Erasmus, some letters of Martin Luther, and the Paston Letters of our own country represent the epistolary art of the fifteenth century. Some time ago an original letter of Martin Luther came into my possession, which I have never seen published. As it is a very characteristic one, this may be my apology in giving some extracts from it. It was written to one of his old cronies, Dr. Gregory Brück, in 1543, after his battles were over, in a style of raillery worthy of Rabelais. Luther suggests a 66 very easy way of meeting and getting rid of the devil-not by resisting him, as St. Paul advised. Luther says in effect, Laugh at the devil, and he will flee from you." He expresses his opinion that it is only right to taunt and jeer at the devil, since the devil mocks at the angels in heaven, and he repeats that it is better to retort in this way than to answer his trivial attacks in a serious spirit. This letter reminds us of a story Luther tells of himself. "The devil," he says, "is very proud, and what he least likes is to be laughed at." One night he was disturbed by something apparently rattling and moving about in his room. He got up, and with a light searched the apartment through, and although he could find nothing, yet believing the evil one was undoubtedly there, and not at all discomposed, he said, "Oh! it is you, is it?" and immediately returned to bed and went to sleep. Mr. Froude makes the following comment on this story :-" Think as you please about the cause of the noise, but remember that Luther had not the least doubt that he was alone in the room with the actual devil, who, if he could not overcome his soul, could at least twist his neck in a moment, and then think what courage there must have been in the man who could deliberately sleep in such a presence." But even in our own country people in later times believed in the actual presence of the devil when any strange noises were heard. That delightful old gossip and antiquary, Aubrey, in his correspondence, relates a curious story of one Thomas Allen, a well-known astronomer and mathematician, who was supposed by the common people to be a conjurer. That 66 learned man, when on a visit to a country house, happened to leave his watch in the chamber window (watches were then rarities). The maids came in to make the bed, and hearing a thing in a case cry "Tick, tick, tick," presently concluded that it was the devil, and took it by the string with the tongs and threw it out of the window into the moat, to drown the devil. It so happened that the string hung on the sprig of an elder that grew out of the moat, and this confirmed them that it was the devil. So the good old gentleman got his watch again. As we descend to later times letters have become a very important factor in the writing of biography and history. When a man of note dies, his correspondence is collected with scrupulous care by his biographer. This is supplemented by letters from his friends, and others of his contemporaries who knew him, called "appreciations" or "recollections." Then comes the candid friend, who in his correspondence or diary often misrepresents the life of the man more than his open enemy. Truly says the poet : "Give me the avow'd, the erect, the manly foe : Bold I can meet, perhaps may turn his blow. But of all plagues, good Heaven, Thy wrath can send, Save, save, oh! save me from the candid friend!" Following closely upon the trail of the biographer comes the literary scavenger, who gathers together any scrap of written paper containing the rejected offscouring of the writer's pen, or his random amorphous thoughts. How much have the annals of our own country been enriched through the publication of the Reports of the Historical MSS. Commission,' which contain an enormous mass of state papers, historical and family records, familiar letters, secret documents, with an account of the heroic deeds of men whose names have long been forgotten, who fought, bled, and died for their country-some of whom were martyrs! And we read of traitors also: "Whose letters, false beyond all forgery- There are other precious letters which were written on the spot, or at the time, describing occurrences and events, not as seen some hundreds of years afterwards by those subjective reconstructors of history through the "spectacles of books," who look only for what they wish to see, and are sure to find. Here are to be found, also, the secret correspondence of monarchs, with foreign potentates, statesmen, philosophers, etc., showing "what dire events from trivial causes spring." "I would have history," says Thackeray, "more familiar than heroic." It is the little things which make up the sum and substance of human life. Plutarch, in beginning his Life of Alexander,' says that "often a man's most brilliant actions prove nothing as to his true character, while some trifling incident, some casual remark or jest, will throw more light upon what manner of man he was than the bloodiest battle, the greatest array of armies, or the most important siege." It is through the unguarded con fidence of letters we see upon what little pivots this world revolves; how great men are ruled by little men, “lions led by asses," as Napoleon once said; how the mighty monarch under the "government of the slipper" in his own palace was baffled and made ridiculous. Read the secret correspondence of the Courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV, and you will know that Themistocles uttered no mere jest when he said that his "little son was the most powerful person in Greece; for the Athenians ruled the Greeks, he ruled the Athenians, his wife ruled him, and his son ruled his wife." As we examine some of those dried-up letters which, like dead autumn leaves, are to be seen in various collections, especially in France, badly indited, badly spelt, we can hardly realise that they were written or dictated (for they could not always write) by Court mistresses, who once ruled. the world; who declared wars of extermination, or caused treaties of peace to be signed; who made and unmade ministers; appointed bishops and deposed them; who were the friends of kings, queens, princes, courtiers, statesmen, and other notabilities. What a revelation they make to us of the secret motives, passions, and prejudices of those who were supposed to be our rulers! Here are laid bare the ropes and hidden machinery by which the shifting puppets upon the public stage were worked, and how trumpery their worn-out rag-fair properties and emblazonments look now. We are shown, also, the real rulers, who scarcely appear upon the scene at all, illustrating that cynical maxim, "What woman wishes God ordains." These letters and documents contain matter enough for a thousand homilies for |