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accomplished to benefit the working man and woman who
cannot afford books in his or her own home.
When life is hard and troubles are many, we cannot too
highly prize all institutions where rest may be found, and where
healthy social recreation may be enjoyed and where labour
may be lightened by sympathy.
It has been well said that books are " the legacy of
genius," and certainly they are our lasting friends. When
worldly occupations have passed away they remain as valuable
as ever; friends may grow cold and unsympathetic, but books
remain the same to cheer and comfort us with that true friendship
which cannot deceive or desert us. I have read that the
history of libraries is of great antiquity. The remains of the
earliest known were discovered in 1843 by Sir Henry Layard
at Nineveh, which consisted of tablets of baked clay dated
1700 B.C. In a tomb of one of the kings of Egypt, a
manuscript on papyrus (from which we got the idea of our
paper) mentions that the first Public Library was founded
by Pisistratus at Athens 540 B.C. Another was founded by
Ptolemy, 284 8.C., which unfortunately was partially burnt
when Julius Caesar set fire to Alexandria, at which time
400,000 manuscripts were said to have been destroyed.
What a sad loss to us, and to the world !
Fortunately many most valuable additions to knowledge
in Hebrew and Greek manuscripts lay hidden in monasteries
in the middle ages, including the priceless preservation of the
Old and New Testament.
It was only in the 15th century that the works of the
great historian, Tacitus, were discovered in Italy, which have
been since a foundation of our knowledge of the most powerful
period of the Roman Empire, from Tiberius to Domitian, and
contains a tract about early England which gave us materials
for modem philosophic history and municipal character of our
country under the Roman law. Free Libraries have been
introduced in England since 1872, when the great Guildhall
Library was opened free, and since then there have sprung up
several in all parts of England, many being presented by the
energy and generosity of Mr. Passmore Edwards and
Mr. Carnegie. I have also heard that formerly, when private
libraries were scarce, gentlemen used to bring boxes of