and died in February 22, 1712. He was Brownlow No. 1 as regards the Book of Armagh. His son, William Brownlow, born in December, 1683, married, in 1712, Lady Elizabeth Hamilton, and died in 1739. He was No. 2. His son, the Right Hon. William, born in April, 1726, M.P. for Co. Armagh, died November, 1794. He was No. 3. His son William, born in September, 1755, died without issue in 1815. He was No. 4. The estate then passed to his brother Charles, but not the Book, for it went to his half-brother, the Rev. Francis Brownlow, as residuary legatee. He was born in 1779, and married Lady Catharine Brabazon. He was No. 5. It was in 1815 that it came into his possession, and, not long after, it was lent to Archbishop Magee for examination. From him it was transferred to Sir William Betham,' and, after an interval, to Mr. H. J. Monck Mason. While in the hands of Sir William Betham he prepared a copious memoir of it, which occupies the entire second part of his Irish Antiquarian Researches, published in 1827, with several excellent fac-similes. Some supplemental matter on the same subject was communicated by him to the Christian Examiner, and appeared in that magazine in May, 1836. Previously to 1844 the Book was in the hands of Mr. Monck Mason. It was in 1836 that the MS. was advertised to be sold by auction, but withdrawn. The particulars of its deposit in the Museum of the Royal Irish Academy in 1846 are to be found in the Proceedings at that date. The Rev. F. Brownlow died on the 20th of November, 1847, upon which the possession passed to his eldest son, William Brownlow, of Knapton, Esq., who renewed the deposit, and permitted the Book to accompany the select objects of the Museum which occupied a place in the Dublin Exhibition of 1853, and bore the following label :— "Exhibited by Wm. Brownlow, Esq., Knapton, Abbeyleix.-An ancient Irish Manuscript of the Gospels, a Life of St. Patrick, &c., written in A.D. 807 by a scribe named Ferdomnach. See Proceedings, Royal Irish Academy, vol. iii., p. 317, &c., where this date is proposed by 2 "I beg leave, in this place, to express my grateful acknowledgments to his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, through whose kindness and condescension I first became acquainted with the existence of the Book of Armagh, and obtained permission to investigate its contents, and lay them before the public.”—Irish Antiq. Researches, p. *322. 2 Third series, vol. i., pp. 308-316 (Dublin, 1836). 3 Proceedings, June 8th, 1846, vol. iii., p. 258. He was the sixth and last possessor in the Brownlow family, and his death took place on the 19th of July, 1881. Rev. Charles Graves, though Sir William Betham and Mr. Westwood have given the year 699 as its probable date, and attributed the writing of the MS. to Aidus, Bishop of Sletty. (To be sold.)" 1 On observing the notice of the owner, I wrote to him forthwith to know whether such was his intention, and, if so, what was the price which he had fixed. His reply was as follows: "KNAPTON, ABBEYLEIX, August, 1853. "DEAR SIR,-I have just returned from Sir Charles Coote's, where your letter respecting the Book of Armagh was forwarded to me, which will, I hope, account sufficiently for your not having before received a reply. I beg to say that three hundred pounds is the price that I have put upon the Book of Armagh, and I have already been offered within £15 or £25 of that sum by Mr. Smith, of the firm of Hodges and Smith, of Grafton-street. As Lord Lurgan, who is the head of my family, has come of age, I wrote to tell him of my intention of selling it, and recommending him not to allow it go out of the family, but he has not said whether or not he intends purchasing it, if the sum I mentioned is offered for it. “I am, dear Sir, your very obedient Servant, "WILLIAM BROWNLOW." By return of post I wrote to say that I wished to have the book at the sum he named, and that I would be prepared to meet him for the purpose on whatever day he should appoint for the transfer. which the following was his reply: "KNAPTON, ABBEYLEIX, Tuesday, August 30th, 1853. То "DEAR SIR,-Your letter of the 27th, informing me of your intention of becoming the purchaser of the Book of Armagh for the sum of £300, reached me this morning. As it is leaving our family, I am delighted at its having fallen into such good hands. As you appear to have no decided objection to its remaining in the Exhibition for some time longer, I would prefer you doing so, as I fear that, having consented to its being exhibited, my taking it away might be thought illiberal; of course I shall not expect you to pay for the Book until it is delivered to you, or any person you may appoint to receive it. I may as well mention that I leave this to-morrow, and shall be at 29, Merrion-square, South, for about five or six days, in case you might happen to be in town. I shall be happy to see you. "Yours truly, "REV. WILLIAM REEVES, Parsonage, Ballymena." "WILLIAM BROWNLOW. 1 The label is preserved by me. In reply to a letter of mine making further inquiry I received this reply: "KNAPTON, October 16th. "MY DEAR SIR,-Your letter followed me from this to Kingstown, and has come back again, besides being late on the day yon posted it, which will account for your not hearing from me before. I go to Kingstown to-morrow, and will communicate with Mr. Člibborn about the Book of Armagh, and let you know on what day I can take the Book from the Exhibition. "I am, in great haste, yours truly, "WILLIAM BROWNLOW." The next communication that came to me was in these terms :— "11, ADELAIDE-STREET, KINGSTOWN, Saturday, October 28th, 1853. "MY DEAR SIR, -I have this moment received your letter of the 26th. I really thought that I had written to you on that day to say that Mr. Clibborn had told me that any day after Tuesday next that you might appoint we might have the Book. Pray excuse this seeming negligence; but having been so busied for the last ten days with doctors, I concluded I could not have written as I intended. "I am, dear Sir, yours truly, "REV. WM. REEVES, Ballymena." "WILLIAM BROWNLOW. Accordingly it was settled that we should meet at the Academy that day week, which we in due time did, and the exchange for which I earnestly longed was in a very few minutes effected, and thus recorded :: "Received from the REV. WILLIAM REEVES, D.D., the sum of Three Hundred Pounds, sterling, being the amount payable to me for the Manuscript commonly called the Book of Armagh, according to the agreement made between him and me. “Dated this 4th day of November, 1853. "WILLIAM BROWNLOW." Shortly before the consummation of this treaty I received the following letter from a very earnest friend, as follows: : "T. C. D., October 18th, 1853. "MY DEAR REEVES,-I am delighted to hear that the Book of Armagh has fallen into such good hands; but is it possible that you have paid £300 for it out of your own means, and are you justified in so doing? I think the Primate would have ventured upon £300; but £500 seemed to terrify him. I am in hopes the money came from him, after all, as on reading over your note, I see the wording of it consistent with this supposition. You may depend upon my closeness and fidelity; but the secret is not so much a secret as you imagine, for Clibborn told me to-day-as a piece of news (without my having made any previous allusion to the subject), that George Smith, the bookseller, was greatly annoyed at having lost the Book of Armagh; and when I asked him what he meant by losing the Book, his answer was- Don't you know that Dr. Reeves has bought it for £500?' I took advantage of the inaccuracy of this last statement to say I greatly doubt that; where could Dr. Reeves get so much money?' To which Clibborn answered-' Whether he gave so much for it I do not know, but certain it is that he has bought it.' I mention this to show you that the fact is known, lest you should imagine that I had blabbed if it came to your ears that Clibborn and Smith knew of it. "Yours ever, "J. H. TODD." The Book continued my own until the 7th of July, 1854, when, at the instance of my good friend, Doctor Todd, I disposed of it to the then Primate at the same sum which I paid, with a view to his presenting it to the Library of Trinity College, as a safer and more accessible depository than that of Armagh. The conditions are stated in former Dublin University Calendars, in the list of "Benefactors of Trinity College," as follows: “1854, July 7.-His Grace the Most Rev. Lord John George Beresford, D.D., Lord Primate of Ireland, placed in £300 0 0." At present the MS. is in my keeping, with a view to publication. I have mentioned in a foregoing part of my statement that the MS. was advertised for sale by auction in 1831, but withdrawn, and that this occurred in the time of its fifth owner, of the second dynasty; and as it was a critical event in the history of the book, I may be excused if I subjoin the particulars of the transaction. After the publication of Sir William Betham's Antiquarian Researches public attention and curiosity were drawn towards the principal features of the Book; and the MS. remained for a while in the hands of Richard Moore Tims, a religious bookseller in Graftonstreet; and as arrangements were a-making for the sale of the valuable and extensive library of Mr. Edward Woods, by Mr. Maguire, the auctioneer, of Suffolk-street, the Book of Armagh was sent in for sale, and formed the first item in the manuscript portion of the catalogue, of which more than three pages were devoted to its description, with the following preamble: "It would be quite superfluous to attempt giving a description of this extraordinary rare MSS. after the elaborate view taken of its contents, by our talented Countryman, SIR WILLIAM BETHAM, who has devoted the entire of the Second Volume of his valuable Work, entitled Irish Antiquarian Researches, to a clear, succinct, and detailed history of this precious document. The following extracts may not be deemed unimportant: Then follow the particulars. On Monday, the 6th of June, 1831, there appeared in Saunders' News Letter this note of preparation : "THE BOOK OF ARMAGH.-We have been gratified with the sight of this singularly rare manuscript. Public curiosity has been strongly excited by its appearance. Hundreds of visitors have called during the last ten days at Mr. Maguire's salerooms, for the purpose of inspecting the Book, which was held in so much veneration by our ancestors. We understand it will be sold on to-morrow. We trust those more immediately connected with our public institutions will look to it, and not allow so precious a document to quit the country. It appears to be the general feeling that the heads of our University should not allow the Book to pass into other hands, in which opinion we most cordially agree." On the day following the sale was accordingly opened, and the Book held up to view and competition, as described by the same journal: "On Tuesday great curiosity was evinced by the amateurs and literati of this city, with respect to the sale of this valuable and unique MS. Mr. Maguire's salerooms, in Suffolk-street, where it was to be brought to the hammer, were crowded long before the hour appointed, and as the auctioneer proceeded in the sale, according to the numbers of the catalogue, the anxiety increased among all present. At length the expected moment arrived, and the words, The Book' passed from lip to lip, as the spectators looked at each other. The auctioneer held it up to public view, saying: Gentlemen, now is the critical period!' At four o'clock the bidding commenced. The first offer was £100; this soon raised to guineas; £150, and then £200, were the next biddings. The last was soon transmuted to guineas. On the respective competitors went, through the several gradations of £260, £300,-guineas,-£360, £370, £380, £390. Here the rivalry seemed to have come to a full stop, and in the interval there was complete silence, until a voice in the crowd cried out: I will give five shillings for it.' Laughter followed this very spirited bidding. The auctioneer in vain essayed to rouse the lagging purchasers by saying, It's a scandal that it should quit the country! rely on it, it will leave the country unless an advance be made.' All would not do; the fatal once, twice, thrice, were put, and the final monosyllable 'gone' followed. All were anxious to hear who is the purchaser of this gem of antiquity, but no one knew. Some kind Asmodeus from the house of Cochran & Co., of London, we understood, have borne it off in triumph from its native shore. We heard but one feeling expressed amongst the cognoscenti, that it was a shame to allow it to leave the country. The whole time occupied on the sale was but five minutes, and in this short space of a few brief seconds' did this chronicle of the olden time' change masters, to be brought in triumph to another land. We noticed in the room the |