Johann Gutenberg left at his death, and which belonged to me, and belong to me still; but for the honor and for the pleasure of his Highness, I have bound myself, and am SO bound by this letter, never to use them in any other place than in Mayence; and moreover, only to sell them, in preference, to a citizen of this place, who shall offer an equal price with any other. In faith of which declaration, I have appended my seal to this present. Given in the year 1468, the Friday after the festival of St. Matthew (26th February.)" Thus ended the life of JOHN GUTENBERG; the first maker of separable metal TYPES ; the inventor of the LETTER PRESS; the Founder of the TYPOGRAPHIC ART. His remains were interred at the church in the convent of the Franciscans near the house Zum Junghen, where, not long after, one of his kinsmen erected a tablet, the inscription on which ran as follows: D. O. M. S. IOANNI GENSZFLEISCH ARTIS IMPRESSORIE REPERTORI DE OMNI NATIONE ET LINGUA OPTIME MERITO IN NOMINIS SUI MEMORIAM IMMORTALEM ADAM GELTHUS POSUIT. OSSA EJUS IN ECCLESIA D. FRANCISCI MOGUNTINA FELICITER CUBANT. About forty years later, another tablet was set up at the house Zum Gutenberg, in the inner court of the College of Lawyers, by Ives of Witigen or Venza, doctor of laws, and professor of that University, on which was the following inscription: JO. GUTENBERGENSI MOGUNTINO QUI PRIMUS OMNIUM LITERAS AERE IMPRIMENDAS INVENIT, HAC ARTE DE ORBE TOTO BENE MERENTI IVO WITIGISIS HOC SAXUM PRO MONUMENTO POSUIT M.D.VIII. The learned Wimpheling, his contemporary, also commemorated his memory in the following eloquent epigram: "Felix Ansicare, per te Germania fœlix, The study of the life of such a man, who in his own person embodied, in a pre-eminent degree, the leading characteristics of the Teutonic race-Sense of Duty, Courage, Diligence, and Perseverance,-so ably portrayed by Professor Max Müller in his oration at the German Festival on the 1st of May 1871; is one of deep and abiding interest. His sense of duty to his convictions was manifested in his boundless faith in the ultimate success of his inventions; his courage was dauntless, no difficulties could deter him from Published at Heidelberg in 1499. following the path he was resolved upon pursuing; his diligence was unwearied; his perseverance indomitable. In spite of numerous failures, or what seemed such to men less hopeful than himself, he constantly attracted new friends and supporters, as old ones fell away. Losses, lawsuits and ingratitude dogged each step of his career; but he triumphed over every difficulty; saw the Art he had invented become the means of bringing fortunes to men who had at different times been his associates and opponents; and died esteemed and honored by the sovereign of his native city. Well did he realize the truth of the inspired proverb of the Royal Hebrew sage, -"Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men." Great and noble by nature, his fame as an original inventor has always stood deservedly high; but should the hypothesis of Mr. Holt be established as a fact by the production of further evidence, his fame henceforth will stand much higher than it has hitherto done. The genius with which he was gifted will, in such case, prove to be of the same order as that which first led to the representation in visible symbols of the sound of spoken thoughts; and the pinnacle of glory on which the memory of his name is raised for the admiration of posterity must be elevated to the same level as that of the yet unknown but divinely inspired originator of the immortal art of writing. Not less interesting than the study of the life of Gutenberg, is the contemplation of the effects which the Art he invented almost immediately produced. These can scarcely be more eloquently or succinctly stated, than in the words of the distinguished historian Sir EDWARD S. CREASY, Chief Justice of Ceylon. After speaking of the excitement occasioned throughout Europe by the maritime discoveries of the Portuguese, and |