Literary and Phllofophical Intelligence. 



[Nov. J, 



point of publi/hing every thing ; but our 

 hiftory is fo black, and frequently fo tra- 

 gical, that we confiiler it our duly to 

 throw over it an iiTip*netiablc veil. As 

 to the manulcripts ot' which you Ipeak, I 

 have no knowledge ot them ; at lealt I 

 can affure you. that they are not in the 

 convent you have mentioned." Thi> re- 

 ply, which would have difcouiagcd any 

 other, was on the contrary a frefii Tp'T to 

 Sellius. Alter feveral other attempts 

 equally unfuccefjful, he conceived the 

 moil extraordinary defign that the love of 

 letters and the paffion for refcarch ever 

 produced. Finding it impofilble to pene- • 

 trate into this convent which contained 

 the objeft ot his mod arilent def.res, he 

 again waited on the fupeiior and declar- 

 ed that he felt himielf mod p)*errully 

 impelled to enter into the boilin of ihe 

 Greek church ; that he wifhed in conle- 

 quence to abjure his religion, and to af- 

 I'ume the relii>ious habit in the above- 

 mentioned convent. The all')ni!hed pr:- 

 ]ate in vain remonilratcd and dc:ailtd all 

 the difcouraging circumftar.ces to which 

 he wo.il'i be fubjefted by the dilcipiine of 

 the O'dcr, which is one of the moll rieid. 

 Sellius pcrfilfeH in hii re'oliition ; he aC- 

 fumed the habit, and, as 't may be- I'up- 

 p. led, the fathers did not ftudy to render 

 his noviciate caly to liim. He fupportcd 

 this firvere trial, and as his whnje aifen- 

 tion leemed to be occupied with falling 

 and prayer, he at leni-th difpclleU the ful- 

 picicns with which he wis regarded, and 

 obiaiiied accels to the library and the ar- 

 chives of the convent. From the magni- 

 tude of the facrifice he had made, lome 

 .idea may be formed of his difappointnicnt 

 _ when he found that they did i:ot contain 

 what he fought ; but another dilcoveiy 

 which he made at the lame time I'omewhat 

 diininifhed his chagrin. He alcertained 

 that a great quantity of manul'cripis had 

 been taken fVom thel'e archives and con- 

 veyed to feveral convents in the interior of 

 the empire, the names of whic'i were ipe- 

 ciried. Thtle he carefully acted down. — 

 He then repaired to the fupeiior and re- 

 quefted his permifTion to make a pilgrim- 

 age, which he laid he had be:n command- 

 ed to do by his patron, who appeared to 

 him in a dream. To fuch a pious under- 

 taking it was impoflible to oppol'e any ob- 

 ftacles i he received the pontifical bere- 

 (iiflion, aflfumed the habit of a pilgrim, 

 and fet out to vifit all the convents in the 

 interior of the empire. Invariably fai:h- 

 ful to his plan, every chapel, every mira- 

 culous image, received his homage ; the 

 reputation of his eminent piety every 



where preceded him ; and whenever he 

 ventured toap^iroach the libraries and the 

 archives of 'he convents that he vifited, 

 it was not without obfcrving the greaiell 

 precautions. For fo many f'acrifices he 

 often t U'.id himfelf amply compeiilated j 

 but freqnentlv his expect at i<ns were cru- 

 elly diixpp.-inted. He kit not a moment, 

 he tranlcribed, compiled, and when it wag 

 implTible for him to make 'Xtrails, he 

 had the addrefs to prevail on thr librarians, 

 moltiy ignorant men, to ctitruft Ini:/ with 

 the origmais, and they even fufftved h:m 

 without hefitaiion to carry av-fay the molt 

 valuable manulcripts. S'-ilios lu^ceflively 

 trarifmitted thefe ^jreci'uis f^leanings to a. 

 trofty fV'cnd at Mofcow, whom he hid 

 prcvioufly rcqietled to procure for Wm a 

 private place, were it even a cellir, in 

 which <A\ Ills arrival he might without 

 fear of furpi ife enjoy the fruit of lb many 

 painful refeatches. On hearing that the 

 whole hsd arrived in fifety, he haftened 

 to.Molcow and fliut himftrif up for fix 

 whole weck.s in a kind of cellar, becaul'e 

 he thought himfeif fecure in no other fitu- 

 ation. There engaged night ahd day in 

 digelHng, tranfcribii g, and analyfing, he 

 fcaicely allowed himielf a fe.v hours fr 

 rtpole. When he had at lengt:) exhaufl- 

 ed hi> mani'cripis, he ifihed fiom his tomb 

 and returned to his convent, where he in- 

 tended to begin the great work for whick 

 he h;td be-n collecting materials ; but his 

 heahli being impaired by the extreme fa. 

 iigiie and l.ibour of the laft fix weeks in 

 particular, he was totally unable to pro- 

 ceed with it. He lion afterwards fell fick, 

 was obliged to keep his bed, and perceiv- 

 ing that his end was approaching, he 

 w:ote to a friend of liis at Peterfburg, to 

 wlio.Ti he bequeathed all the papers that 

 ftiould be found in his cell after his death : 

 but wiien the latter appeared to take pof- 

 ftifion of this legacy the fuperior replied, 

 " Don't you know that a religious has no 

 property, and confequently cannot make 

 any bequcft ? Behdes, your friend ha» 

 not left any papers." 



A (ociety is ir.ltituted at Bombay, for 

 th*: purpofe of collefting ufeful know- 

 ledge in every- branch of fcience, and of 

 promoting il-,e farther inveftigation of the 

 hiftory, literatuie, aits, and manners, of 

 the Afutic nations. Sir Jam£9 Mack- 

 intosh, who was eleiSled prefident, de- 

 livered a very eloquent difcourfe on the 

 occafion, » 



M.^RiA P.i^ULOWNA, Grand Ducheft 

 of Ruina, has, much to her honour, un- 

 dertaken the care of the two fcns left by 

 the cek'braud pcet Schiilcc, 



The 



