344
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. vm. NOV. i, 1913.
- Orationes ad Principes,' formerly attributed to him,
were only collections made for him by his friends. tThis is also true of the very interesting * Liber Epistolaris quondam Eichardi de Buri, Episcopi Dunelm.,' a handy volume of collections with many valuable documents in it. This MS. is in the library of Lord Harlech at Brogyntyn, a if olio MS. in excellent condition. As it was made for Bury, it respects his objection against costly illustrations. The MS. was probably bought on Bury's death by the monks of St. Edmond's, Bury, for it is inscribed (in a somewhat later hand) as ' Liber Monachorum S. Edmundi Regis et Martyris.' . . . .Next, in a series of five MSS. in the Durham Treasury, the Cartuarium Vetus, and the Cartuaria in four volumes, we have a collection of papers, among which are many connected with Bury, giving an account of his visitation of the Cathedral Monastery, &c. It 'is clear [as I agree above] that his MSS., when "the ' Philobiblon ' was completed, a very short time before the Bishop's death, were still in his own hands, and had not been sent off to Oxford. It is true that Dr. Thomas Kay states that he saw and read at Durham College, near the end of the reign of Henry VIII., a copy of the ' Philo- biblon,' which, he said, had been given to the College by Bury himself : ' Eundem ipsum indubie quern ipsemet bibliothecae illi vivus contulerat.' Yet this statement may have been only Dr. Kay's surmise, or it is quite likely that a copy of the work might have been made in Bishop JEIatfield's days, and sent by him to the College. .... Directly Bishop Bury expired, those who had lent him money wished to get what they could from his defenceless body. His attendants ielped themselves to what they could find about liim ; his magnificent robes, and his still more splendid collection of MSS., and all his other assets, were wanted to pay off his debts .... 'The MSS. seem to have been sold for what they would fetch. We learn something about them from an interesting transaction described by M. Oocheris (' Notice Littraire '), who describes the affair with a kindly severity : ' Une de ces concessions, si Ton peut qualifier par un terme aussi seVere le resultat de ses accommodements entre le ciel et sa conscience.' Thus was the fine collection of MSS. scattered everywhere : a few of them can still be recognized : there are some at the British Museum, others at the Bodleian at Oxford ; probably one or two in the Cathedral Library at Durham. '
This Preface, though unsigned, is presumably by Dean Kit chin, who edited the volume, and if so, one wonders how he came to pen the closing limb of the last sentence, seeing -that he could easily, as Dean of Durham, have obtained certainty, and not probability merely, as to the number, if not the authen- ticity, of De Bury's MSS. in his cathedral library.
I have the modest assurance that this note rectifies the omission, and that it further refutes the opening statement of the Preface that De Bury's MSS. never found their way to Oxford.
J. B. McGovERN.
St. Stephen's Ilectory, C.-on-M., Manchester.
'THE FREEMAN'S JOURNAL,'
1763-1913. (See ante, p. 321.)
DR. GRAY was the life and soul of the syndicate. He was by birth a Mayo man, and received his education at Trinity College, Dublin, where he was brought into close contact with Catholic and Pro- testant young men of liberal tendencies. Though he acquired distinction in the medical profession, he followed the bent of his inclinations towards political journalism, and thus acquired control of The Freeman. He was a man of gracious presence and charming personality, and the paper became part and parcel of himself, for its policy in the past had thoroughly recommended itself to him, especially the active share it had taken in the cause of Catholic Emancipation. He shared with his friend O'Connell the amazement and delight felt when Peel, on the 5th of March, 1829, introduced his Bill, and declared that the credit of the measure
" belongs to others, and not to me. It belongs to Mr. Fox, to Mr. Grattan, to Mr. Plunkett, and to an illustrious and right honourable friend of mine who is now no more George Canning."
The Freeman in its leader on the 18th of April, expresses " the exultation with which the passage of the Act through its final stages was learned in the country."
On the 30th of April of the following year O'Connell established the Society of the Friends of Ireland, " with the object of obliterating ancient animosities and preparing the way for Repeal." This was immediately suppressed by proclamation. O'Connell watched his opportunity for hitting back, and when the Government
" attempted to increase the revenue at the ex- pense of Ireland by assimilating the stamp duties, he in June sanctioned a run for gold on the Bank of Ireland."
When Melbourne came into office in 1835, a compact was made with O'Connell that he would suspend the Repeal agitation, and give the Government " every fair oppor- tunity of passing remedial legislation, and administering the law on the principles of justice and equality." The Lord Lieutenant was Lord Mulgrave ; the Chief Secretary, Lord Morpeth, afterwards Earl of Carlisle ; but the real governor of the country was Thomas Drummond, the Under-Secretary, who came to Ireland unknown.
" Mr. R. Barry O'Brien, the author of ' Life and Letters of Drummond,' has drawn a powerful
