POPULAR MISCELLANY. 



283 



it is said, address their captive, when they 

 first get him on the line, with different titles 

 of honor, after the manner of the ancient 

 Egyptians, believing that the reptiles have 

 grades and ranks, and gradually going down 

 the scale till he is landed, when they call 

 him very hard names. 



Gutenberg and the Art of Printing. 



The credit of the invention of- printing in 

 Europe appears to have been settled upon 

 Gutenberg by the publication of a letter 

 written by Guillaume Fichet, in 1470, only 

 two years after Gutenberg's death, to Eobert 

 Gaguin, which has recently been found in 

 the unique copy of the Liber Orthographise of 

 Gaspar Barzilius, the second book printed 

 in Paris, in the library of Basle. In this 

 letter Fichet says, " They report that not far 

 from the city of Mentz there was a certain 

 Jew surnamed Bone-montanus (Good-mount- 

 ain, Gutenberg), who first thought out the 

 art of printing." The writer then dilates 

 upon Gutenberg's superiority, in virtue of his 

 invention, to the ancient gods and goddesses, 

 benefactors of humanity, and concludes, 

 " Nor will I be silent concerning those who 

 already surpass their master, among whom 

 Udalricus, Michael, and Martinus are said 

 to be chief." The invention may have been 

 original or not with Gutenberg, but this 

 was not the first of it. The art of printing 

 with movable types was known to the Core- 

 ans before it was practiced in Europe. The 

 British Museum possesses several Corean 

 books so printed, which, in the opinion of 

 experts, are of earlier date than the middle 

 of the fifteenth century. The same people 

 afterward fell back into block printing. 



Modes of Boarding. The passion for 

 hoarding is an old one, and is naturally de- 

 veloped. All people love what is bright, 

 like gold and jewels, and when it is not safe 

 to use treasure openly, will hide it. The 

 attribute of value, soon acquired by such 

 objects, increases the desire to possess and 

 keep them. The Indians, not having much 

 stock of precious metals, laid up wampum- 

 belts. The Celts and Goths rolled gold into 

 spiral finger-rings, or made necklets, arm- 

 lets, and bracelets of it to wear. The an- 

 cient Egyptians had their ring-money, and 

 treasure-houses where it was kept. The I 



Greeks deposited their money in temples, 

 buried it in the ground, or laid it away in 

 tombs. Many people simply bury it ; and this 

 custom is illustrated in the fairy and mytho- 

 logical tales of buried treasure. Hoarding 

 seems to have been more extensively prac- 

 ticed in India than in any other country. It 

 was stimulated there by the rapacity of all 

 governments previous to the English. The 

 efforts of the English to change the habits 

 of the people, by establishing banks and fa- 

 cilities for circulating money with guarantees 

 of security, have had only partial success. 

 The Royal Commission on bimetallism esti- 

 mates that the hoards of the last fifty years 

 in that country represent about three hun- 

 dred millions sterling of gold and silver, or 

 nearly one third of the total value of the 

 coin in circulation in the world. The hoards 

 of past centuries must be added to these to 

 get the full amount. The metal is laid up 

 in the form of bullion or coin, ornaments, or 

 jewelry, and it would be hard to say which 

 form is preferred. Jewelry is prized highly, 

 and always finds ready sale. British sover- 

 eigns are in favor, because of the image of 

 St. George and the Dragon upon them, which 

 appeals to religious motives. The hoards 

 of some of the native princes are enormous. 

 The treasure of the Maharajah of Burdwan 

 occupied half a dozen or more large rooms 

 and vaults. These hoards acquire in time a 

 sort of sanctity as a family treasure, and it 

 becomes a point of honor not to break into 

 them ; so that they are not drawn upon ex- 

 cept in extreme cases. Hoarding is common 

 among the thrifty peasantry of Europe ; and 

 it was by wisely using the opportunity to 

 draw from stores thus accumulated that the 

 French people achieved their wonderful suc- 

 cess in paying off the war indemnity which 

 the Germans levied upon them. 



Chinese Prize Essays. The Chinese Poly- 

 technic Institute and Reading Rooms, Shang- 

 hai, has for several years been managing a 

 scheme of prize essays which has expanded 

 into considerable proportions. It is based 

 upon the popular system of writing essays 

 in an elevated style of composition, in which 

 the Chinese excel to an extraordinary de- 

 gree. A high official is asked to give out a 

 subject, on which prize essays are invited, 

 and to co-operate in the examination of the 



