be capable of any regard to the glory of God, or the good and happiness of the moral system; for if he could take pleasure in these, he would not be wholly deprived of happiness. The bad tendency of this doctrine if it be not well founded, will be:1. To give uneasiness to pious minds who may believe it upon the authority of those whom they think more knowing than themselves, but yet they can't find their hearts reconciled to it. 2. Pious orthodox Christians who think it an error will be prejudiced against the books that contain it, however orthodox and useful in other respects, and will scruple the lawfulness of keeping them in their houses, or any way encouraging the spread of such books, lest they should be guilty of propagating dangerous errors. 3. It will give the enemies of truth occasion to speak reproachfully of the authors of such books, and prejudice the minds of people against them, and so obstruct their usefulness. Therefore I wish you to cut off occasion, from those who may seek occasion. I am, &c. 49 ROGER SHERMAN. LA SALLE'S MONUMENT AT ROUEN. BY HAMILTON B. STAPLES. To the list of objects abroad, of peculiar interest to an American on account of their historical association with his own country, the sculptured stone which covers the dust of Captain John Smith at St. Sepulchre's, the Raleigh window at St. Margaret's, the statue of Columbus at Genoa, there is now added another, the mural monument to La Salle at Rouen. It consists of a massive marble slab, by estimation eight feet high and nearly four wide. When I saw it, June 14, 1887, it was finished and leaned against the wall of one of the chapels on the north side of the Cathedral. Long before this, it has been permanently attached to the wall of Notre Dame-a church nearly four hundred years old when La Salle was born. I will attempt a further description of it. In the upper part there is a bronze tablet embedded in the marble, in the centre of which is a bas-relief likeness of La Salle in profile. Above the likeness is the coat-of-arms of La Salle. The likeness and coat-of-arms are set in a shell, which also affords a background. On a scroll, unrolled on each side of the shell, are the words Robert Cavelier de La Salle MDCXLIII. MD. The letters, except the last two, denote the year of his birth, while the letters MD. repeated, perhaps signify in part 1687, the year of his death, the rest of the letters being hid in the folds. The shell is supported on each side by scroll work and there are open spaces where leaves and flowers are introduced. The centre and lower part of the monument present a raised marble surface with regular sides, in each corner of which is represented a star of eight points, and upon the face of which is the following inscription in gilded letters: A la mémoire de Robert Cavelier de La Salle Baptisé à Rouen le 22 Novembre 1643 Aujourdhui réunie à l'eglise-Cathedrale de Notre Dame Après avoir découvert et exploré Les bassins de l'Ohio et du Mississippi, Et pendant vingt années du Canada au Golfe du Mexique Consacré à honorer son patriotisme et sa piété De Monseigneur Thomas Archévèque de Rouen L'An mil huit cent quatre vingt sept. The raised surface which contains the inscription appears to mask a bronze anchor, parts of which project from its borders, in the centre at the top a section of the stock with a ring, at the bottom the point and on each side the fluke of an anchor and the end of the stock with a ring. The anchor is usually suggestive of maritime explorations, but when we consider the extent to which La Salle prosecuted his discoveries upon the great lakes and rivers of North America and that his last great discovery of Texas was the result of a maritime adventure, we can well concede the appropriateness of the emblem. To this it may be added that no man was ever so much sustained by the hope of which an anchor is the symbol as La Salle. Recurring to the portrait and arms of La Salle, the accessories are very appropriate. The heraldic decorations at Versailles of the time of Louis XVI. as well as the architecture and furniture of that period have for characteristic details the shell and the scroll. The panel work of the time presents a series of scrolls or a combination of scroll and shell. It is fitting that the portrait and arms of La Salle should have the same environment. The conception of this use of bronze in connection with marble is classic and deserves to be revived in commemorating one so deeply imbued with the spirit of Roman heroism. Middleton in his "Ancient Rome in 1885," referring to the remains of a decorated platform behind the rostra, says "On the marble slabs are a number of metal pins, showing that they were decorated with metal emblemata or reliefs, probably of gilt bronze." The portrait of La Salle as here represented, must be presumed to be a veritable likeness. In the Narrative and Critical History of North America, Vol. 4, p. 244, there is a portrait of La Salle from a design given in Grévier which, as the note on the same page informs us, is said to be based on an engraving preserved in the Bibliothéque de Rouen, entitled Cavilli de La Salle, François. In regard to this portrait, it may be observed, first, that it represents a much older person than La Salle was at the time of his death-and second, that it does not express the qualities of mind and of character which must have been stamped on the countenance of La Salle. The face, benign and irresolute, cannot be that of La Salle. The mobility and fulness of outline of the features are inconsistent with the historic conception of the man. In the Magazine of American History, Vol. 8, part 1, in connection with an article by Grévier upon La Salle, there is an engraving of him and below are the words "After a photograph of the original painting." This painting is justly regarded as in a sense imaginary. It represents a person of the age of La Salle, but not with the face or features that must have characterized him. The face is too handsome and pleasure-loving. It is a face unfurrowed by care and disappointment, untried by misfortune, unhardened by treachery. The likeness on the monument, however, corresponds to the historical conception of La Salle in age and character. It is here presented to the world under the auspices and on the responsibility of the Archbishop of Rouen, the Primate of Normandy. It cannot be supposed that any pains would be spared to obtain the most veritable likeness of La Salle extant. The engraving at Rouen cannot have escaped notice. The internal evidence, too, in its favor is very strong. By the portrait we are able to recognize the man: his adamantine resolution, his dauntless courage, his haughty, intractable temper, his severe self-repression, his boundless ambition all are here discernible. We can discover a trace of the melancholy which preyed upon him in his last years, when scheme after scheme for profiting by his discoveries had failed, and he was threatened with irretrievable ruin. This is one of the rare cases where a profile is more satisfactory than the front face. Fairhold says that "a face which seen directly in front is attractive by its rounded outline, blooming color, and lovely smile, is often divested of these charms when seen in profile, and strikes only so far as it has an intellectual expression. Only where great symmetry exists connected with a preponderance of the intellectual over the sensual, will a profile appear finer than the front face." I cannot ascertain from what source the Archbishop derived the arms of La Salle, but under the circumstances they must be regarded as authentic. The shield may be briefly described in terms of heraldry, the field gules or red indicated by parallel lines drawn in pale, in chief a star argent, in base a dog courant argent. The Achievement is ensigned with the helmet in profile with the visor closed, invariably assigned to baronets, knights and esquires. This coat-of |