of Foreign Missions, in order to study his position and to prepare for his rehabilitation as a priest.  But he complained bitterly of the treatment which he received at the seminary, and paid frequent visits to Clement, who, with astounding simplicity, allowed him to remain for hours, often quite alone, in the Royal library.  Here he employed himself in making selections from priceless manuscripts, sometimes cutting out pages from the middle of a volume where the theft would be less easily detected.  When he had gathered in a considerable harvest, he cleverly obtained another passport, and escaped back to the Hague with his ill-gotten gains.  He accounted for his absence by saying that he had been to seek documents, important for the defence of religion, and made no secret of having brought back rich trophies.  It was thus through public rumour that Clement first became aware that the king’s library had been robbed.  But Aymon’s method of pilfering had so far succeeded that it was some time before it could be ascertained what number of manuscripts he had carried off.  By degrees, however, the list was completed and sent to Holland.  The Abbe Bignon was the king’s librarian at the time when it was discovered that one at least of the stolen treasures was in the Harleian library.  As soon as Edward, Lord Oxford became aware of the fact, he hastened to restore it, and received in exchange a very polite acknowledgement of his courtesy from Cardinal Fleury on behalf of the king.*

* L. V. Delisle, Le Cabinet des Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque Imperiale.

In 1725 Wanley enumerated the Greek MSS. in the Harleian collection as 173.  Among the illuminated ones, that which bears the number 1810 demands special attention.  It is an Evangelia executed in Greece in the twelfth century, and written in black and red characters on the finest vellum.  Some of the miniatures have suffered woefully, the paint having cracked in parts, but the faces are still full of beauty and life.  One of the least damaged represents the death of the Blessed Virgin.  The apostles surround the bed on which she lies extended; the aged St. Peter lifts up his hands in an attitude of grief; St. John is leaning over her left side; another bends forward and embraces her feet.  In a lozenge-shaped medallion on a gold background our Lord holds her soul in His arms, in the form of a little child.  A crowd of people form the background, and a figure at the head of the bed swings a censer.  Three women contemplate the scene from a small window.

Another remarkable miniature, the last in the volume, is a good deal cracked, but still extremely interesting for the force and delicacy of touch which it displays.  Our Lord appears to the apostles after His Resurrection.  St. Thomas is in the act of placing his finger in the wounded side.  The print of the nails is seen in the hands and feet.  Sir Edward Thompson distinguishes this manuscript with his by no means frequent encomium, “very good.”