^Jff n " ^^^H u ' ■ 6 8 4 ^— Cornell University Library Exercises at the Opening of the Library Building THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES KXERCISES AT THE OPENING OF THE LIBRARY BUILDING CORNELL UNIVERSITY OCTOBER SEVENTH 189I CORN HI.L TNI VKRSITY KXERCISI'S AT TH1-; OI'ENINC — OF — THE LIBRARY BUILDING CONTAINING A DESCRIPTION OF THE BUILDING ; THE ADDRESS OF THE HON. HENRY W. SAGE, PRESENTING THE BUILDING AND ITS ENDOWMENT; THE ADDRESS OF EX- PRESIDENT ANDREW D. WHITE, PRESENTING THE WHITE LIBRARY OF HISTORY AND POLITICAL SCIENCE ; THE ADDRESSES OF ACCEPTANCE BY PRESIDENT ADAMS AND LIBRARIAN HARRIS, TOGETHER WITH THE ADDRESSES OF PRESIDENT D. C, OILMAN, OF JOHNS HOP- KINS UNIVERSITY, AND PROFESSOR MOSES COIT TYLER. OCTOBBR 7, 1891 ITHACA, N. Y. PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY 189I Primed bii Andrus i Church, Ithaca. N. Y. Ctonlciils. .Sonnet, 7 DESCRIPTroN OK THK HlII.DINl",, II Introductory Exickcisks, 25 Presentation Adiirkss hv Mr. Sack, ------ 26 AnnRHss OK Acck;i"Tanck hv rKEsiiu^NT Adams, 33 Presentation Address by Ex-President White, 34 .\DDRESS OF Acceptance hy Librarian Harris, 39 Historical Address hy President Gii.man, 40 Address by Proeessor Moses Coit Tvi.i;h, ------ 5.1 I5i:nediction, 5'> ^■st of Illustrations. I'Al.l^. Exterior View ok Library Building, ... - {Frontispiece). East Entrance, 9 Plan of Main Floor, '2 Plan ok Third I'loor, 13 Detail ok Stone Work over Hast Entrance, 14 General REAiuNr, Room, 15 CaTALOGUINC. ROOJI, .-.--.---.. 17 The President White Librakv ok History and Political Science, . 19 Seminary' Room ok .Vmerican History, 21 Seminary Room for the Ancient Classics, ------ 22 Periodical Room, 23 Seminary Room of Political and Social Science, 24 Portrait ok Henry Williams Sage, 27 Bronze Medallion of Mrs. Jennie McC.raw-I'iske, over East Entrance, 31 Portrait ok .\ni)ki:\v Dickson White, -------- 3.S 963049 Great thought that in a lofty soul fomid place, A7td now fields voice in miracle of stone : Not through Cathedral door to books alone We enter here ; for all that Good tdti\ trace On human hearts 2ce come ; and, keeping pace With high endeavor, struggle to ato7te For loss elsewhere ; for surcease from the moan Of restlessness, for Peace that shall efface All littleness, arid lift us to the air Of larger -usefulness, and I 'ictory won. Above all else 2ve seek withifi thy ken J'or that Great Spirit, luminous and rare. That once again proclaims 7vhat can be done By those who live to serve their fellow-meii. — Mary M. Adams. Jujsl lliihiincc. Openinii; of the Library P)uil(Iin,^*. Qcscripfion. Tlic Library .stands at tlie soutliwest corner of tlie as yet incomplete quad- rang-lc formed by tlie main University bnildings. Tlie o^ronnd here, sloping rap- idly to the south and west, offered some advantages which have been turned to good account by the architect. Thus the reading room, which is entered from the ground-level on the east side of the building, is on the level of the fourth floor of the west stack room ; and as the stack is divided into seven stories, each seven feet high, the deliverv desk is placed at the vertical middle of the stack, which thus becomes practicalh' one of four stories instead of seven. The divi.s- ion of the stack, which has a present capacity of four hundred thou.sand volumes, into two wings, placed at right angles to each other, while providing greater op- portunities for future exteusiou, also brings the books nearer to the point of de- li\erv; so that in either stack the most distant book is only one hundred and twenty feet from the centre of the delivery desk, and there are no shelves beyond eas}- reach from the floor. The accompanying plans will show that not only has the first great requirement of ample room for the future storage of books with direct and easy access from the delivery desk been completely met, but the no le.ss important conditions of successful working, such as economy of administra- tion, abundance of light, good ventilation, and genennis provision for the needs of advanced students as well as for those of the general reader, have been tlior- oughly recognized and richly fulfilled. The extreme diniciisinns of the building arc one hundred and seventy feet by (Uie hundred and fifty-three feet. The general outlines are somewhat in the form of a cross, the book stacks, I, 1, occupying the southern and western arms, the reading rooms. A, R, the eastern, while the northern provides accommodation for the offices of adiuinistration, the White Library, and seven seminary rooms. It is built of stone, and the construction is fire-proof throughout. It is lighted by electricity, and heated by steam supplied from the central heating station. .A thorough .system of artificial ventilation is also ])rovided tor, though only some of the principal ventilating shafts are shown on the accompanying plans, where they are designated by the letter \'. 12 EXERCISES A T THE OPENING OF THE The iimiii entrance is in the northeast angle, and over the front doors in the vestibule F, on a gold mosaic back-ground, is a beantifnl bronze medallion of Mrs. Jennie McGraw-Fiske, in loving memorv of whom, as is recorded on a tab- let near by, the Library was bnilt and endowed by Henry W. Sage. The entrance hall, C, is wainscoted with colored marbles and is lighted by a skylight, the position of which is shown on the third-floor plan. On the right MAIN FLOOR -»- are the women's cloak room IC, with a se])arate ontside cnlrance, llir nKn's cloak room 1), and a checking room K, for umbrellas, etc. In this hall, facing tlic en- trance, is a large o])en fireplace willi reces.ses on either side for seats, where con- ( '( 'A'.W-.y. A / \7 1 AA'.SV /■) • /. /A' A'. / A' ) " 13 versation can be carried on freely willioul (listnrl)in,y; readers. Turninii^ to tlie left, a short flight of steps leads to the inner entrance hall, C, from which open the general reading room A, the periodical reading room 1>. the librarian's room H, and the catalogning room G. The reading room for periodicals, B, is about fifty by twenty-one feet, lighted from the east and north by large windows eight — » THIRD FLOOR *- feet from the floor; the numlxM- and position of these windows are shown on the main floor plan. Beneath them runs a range of wall Ijookcases with a capacity for six thousand seven hundred and fifty volumes. On the tables in this room are displayed the current numbers of the most important magazines and reviews, 14 A-.vA7?c7.s-A\v ./'/- rifi-: npF.x/.vc of riii-: wliile the older numbers and the less frequently used periodicals are arranged in binders on the shelves which surround the room. The floor of this room and ot the general reading room is covered with corticine, which is almost as noiseless as carpet, and much more cleanly. AH the woodwork and furniture of the prin- cipal rooms is of quartered oak highly polished. The sfeneral readine room .A, one hundred and twentv-six bv sixtv-six feet, will provide .seats for two Innuhvd and twenty readers, allowing to each a desk two feet bv two feet ten inches. This niDin is lighted partly by a range of win- dows eight feet from the floor, extending around the soulli and east sides ot the Detail of Stoiif ll'mi- iii-i-r /■'ntl I'liliaiice. room, as sIkjwu on the main floor plan, and partly by a liigber range of clere- story windows, the position and nnniber of wliich are shown on tlic tliinl-floor plan. Hv a com])arison of these two ])lans it will be seen that the reading rcxun for ])eriodicals and the south side ot tlie gtneral reading room, lorni, as it were, two low aisles adjoining the main portion ot llie general reading room, which runs up to a much greater height, thus gi\ ing space for the long range of clere- story windows. In the .south aisle the reading tai)les are single, and fi-ce toward the delivery desk, as shown on the ])lan, I)nt in the main portion of the room, which is lighted b\' the clere-slorv windows, the tables are of double widtli, willi a longitiulinal division, and run lengthwise of the inoni. That a suftK-ient sujtplv (3 coRXi-:/./. t :\7 1 7-;a'.s7/-) • /.//va'. ia' y. 17 of light is provided is evident from the fact that the floor area of the room being six thousand six hundred and twelve square feet, the glass area is one thousand and t\vent3--five square feel. Around the walls of the room, beneath the win- dows, are bookcases for a permanent reference library of eight thousand vol- umes within rcacli of all readers. This reference librarv has been selected with the aid of the professors in tlic several de])artinents of studv, and is supplement- ed by the addition, from term to term, of llie l)ooks reserved b^' professors for tem- C at.ilogii I'/i; /w Id III. porary reference, or collateral reading on the part of their students. The delivery desk is at th^ W23t end of the room, which opens directly into the stack rooms I, I. In front of the delivery desk stand the cases containing the card catalogue. Tliis part of the room is chiefly liglited by a large skylight, the position of which is shown by the dotted lines in the plan of the third story. Additional light, too, is thrown on the di'livery desk from llie windows in the angles of the stacks. 1 8 J-:\/{A'C/S/:S .IT THE OPEXIKC. OF 77 fE The dimensions of the west stack, exclusive of the tliree bays, are forty-se>-eil by forty-four feet, and its book capacity is two liundrcd and fifty-four tliousand volumes. Tlie south stack, forty-two by forty-four feet, is one story less in height than the west stack, and the lower stories are also somewhat encroached upon by the reading room ; so that its book capacity is only one hundred and fifty ihousand volumes. In these stacks the window openings are all placed be- tween the ranges of bookcases ; while the large bays, of which there are three in the west and two in the .south stacks, furnish excellent reading alcoves for special students. In the angles formed by llie junction of the book stacks with tlie read- ing room are staircases and book lifts, running from the bottom to the top of the stacks : on the plan these lifts are marked L. For the stacks a modification of the gas-pipe construction, which has been found so satisfactory in the Buffalo Li- brary, has been adopted. Adjoining the reading room is the librarian's room H, commanding both read- ing rooms and the cataloguing room, being thus placed, as it ought to be, at the very centre of administration, and where the librarian is easily accessible to stu- dents who may need his assistance. Tlie walls of this room are for the most part little nu)re than glass screens, especially on tlic west and north sides, so that an abundant supplv of light is obtained from tlie large west windows. Tlie cata- loguing room, G. is forty-five i)y tweiily-two feel, willi a large l)ay twciil\- b\- fifteen feet, and is divided int > alcoves l)y ranges of bookcases projecting from the east wall, containing the large and excellent working bibliographical collec- tion In the great bav stands the cataloguers' work-table, hexagonal in shape, and eight feet in diameter; in the centre of the table is a revolving bookcase contain- ing the books most frequently used by the cataloguers. Here six persons, cacli with a desk space four feet in length, can work at the same lime williont inter- ference, while the most useful reference books are williiii easy reacli of all. Here, too, an ami)le supply of liglil is provided by large windows extending to the ceil- ing. In a recess on the east side of this room is tlie b;)ok lift M, coiiniiunicaling with the unpacking room in ihe basement, which is also reached bv the slairwav directly from the cataloguing room. From the inner entrance hall a staircase leads to the Presideiil Wliiu- Histor- ical Library, the entrance to which is on the second floor, though it is also indi- cated on the third floor plan. This library occupies the large room W, w Inch is sixty-six by twenty-three feet, exclusive of the large bay, and extends through two stories into the roof. Here the b )oks are arranged somewhat upon the alcove sj'.stem, and it is likely to remain a favorite study room for liistorical students, as '^ ^ 5 ^ CORNELL US 1 1 LA'S/ lY L IliRAR Y. 21 it is certainly one of the most attractive rooms in the building. In the open cen- tral space are large reading tables, and in each of the twelve wide alcoves is placed a small stud}- table for the use of readers. Direct and ea.sy access is given, by the staircase at the southwest corner, to the general reading room and to the west stack, and doors open from the galleries to the historical seminary rooms. With the galleries as now arranged it has a book capacitj' of fort)^ thou- sand volumes, which can be increased to fift}' thousand if necessary. On the Seminary Room for A)ncrica7i History. second i!oor, adjoining the White Library on the east, is a single seminary room R, shown on the plan in a detached position, but really situated immediately be- low the room marked P. This room has been assigned to the Sage School of Philosophy, and contains a select philosophical library for the use of advanced .students. On the third floor of the north wing, opening from the central hall, are the Seminary rooms devoted to European History, P, and American History, N, and 22 /•:.\7iA'c/s/js AT /'///■: (>/'j-:.\7.\(, <>/■' the the editorial room of the Philosophical Review, published under tlie auspices of the University. From these two seminar\- rooms doors open directly into the alcoves of the White Historical Library, and each contains a good workiug col- lection of books for semiuarj' purposes. For example, that in the American History room comprises complete sets of the Congressional Annals, Debates, and Record, the Executive Journals of the Senate, the American Archives and State Papers, the U. S. Statutes, the collection of Colonial and State Laws, and Colonial Seminary Kooni for the Ancient C'/a.tsirs. Records, tlic standard liistories of tlic United States, the collected writings of Wasliingtcm, Franklin, Hamilton, and otlur leading statesmen; and sucli oilier l>ooks as may be needed from lime to time bv students at work on special subjects. Returning to the entrance hall C, on the main floor, a staircase leads to the ba.sement ; here on the west side of the building, entirely above ground, are three handsome rooms, occupying the space direeth- beneath the librarian's room n )A'.\/:7. 1. I :\7 I AA'.S/ 7 } /. //.'A'. / A' > 23 and the catalogiiiiiij nxiiii, all well lighted and ventilated, and conininnicating witli each other. Of these rooms one is assigned to the English seminary, one to tlie Greek and Latin seminaries, and one to the French and German semina- ries. Here, too, are collections of books for the use of seminar)' students; thus the Greek and Latin room, wliicli is shown in tlie accom])anving photograph, contains a carefully selected reference lihrarv for the study of classical litera- ture, and complete sets of the ])rincipal ])hil()l()gical journals and transactions. /\rio:ii<-a! A'dohi. Beneath the periodical room B, is a !arge rooui, lighted by high windows on the north and cast, corresponding to tho.se shown in B. This room has been assigned to the seminaries in Political Economy and Social Institutions. On its shelves is a rapidlj- growing collection of blue-books, .sets of economic and statis- tical journals, reports of boards of trade and similar bodies, and an important collection of municipal documents of American cities. 24 j:.\/:Rcrs/:s at rirr. opf..\i\'G or the In all the seminary rooms the tables are fitted with lock drawers for the con- venience of members of the seminaries, and from each room direct communica- tion can be had with the delivery desk by means of speaking tubes. For advanced students these rooms offer unsurpassed facilities for the successful prosecution of independent research, with full command of all the resources of the University Library. Beneath the cloak rooms D and E is the unpacking room, with an outside entrance for the reception of books, communicating dirccth- with the cataloguing Seminary Room of Jhlilital and Social Scieiuf. Tlu room b}' the lift M, and the staircase as shown on tlic ])lan. portion of the ba.sement, beneath the reading room .\, is fitted u]) as a lecture room or hall, and contains seats for an audience of niiu- liuudred. It is lighted by windows on tlie .south and east sides corresj^onding to those in the general reading room A. Tliere are two main eulrances to this hall (not shown upon the plan), one on the east, the other on the soutli front of the liuilding, and access COA'.V/':/./. /A// AA'.S// )• /.//.'A'. /A')'. 2.S can be had also from the general entrance hall, through the basement. In the tower, which forms a very conspicuous feature of the building, is placed a cliinie of bells presented at the opening of the University' by Mrs. Fiske, and also the University clock. The entrance to the tower, being in the basement, story is not shown iin the ]ilan. ( )ne of llie series of small tower rooms is used as janitor's quarters, and llie others, having been fitted uj) with shelves, serve as storage rooms for documents, records, etc. It will be seen from the figures whicli have been given as to the book capaci- tv of tlie stacks, reading rooms, etc., that the building will provide storage for at least 475,000 volumes, or nearly four times the present extent of the librarj", with facilities for almost indefinite extension of the book-stacks in the future. Introdtictorg iTxerciscs. The formal gift of the Library Building and its endowment was made by the Hon. Henry W. Sage, at a meeting held in the Librarj' Lecture Room, at 2:30 o'clock on the 7th of October, 189 1. The room, seating about one thousand, was comfortably filled with invited guests. On the stage was the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, the President of the University, and the several speakers of the dav. The following was the order of exercises : Music, .... Ithaca Quartette. Prayer, . . Rev. Charles M Tyler. Music, .... Ithaca yuartette. Presentatiou of the Library Buihlin.i; and of the Ivnilowincnt of the Lil)rary, Hon. Henry W. Sage. Acceptance of the Ihiihhni;' and ICndownient in l)ehalf of the l^niversity. President Charles K. Adams. Presentation of the President White l,i1>iary of History and Political Science, Hon. Andrew D. White. I.I, D Acceptance of the President White Library in helialf of the l"niversit\-, Mr. George \V. Harris, Librarian. Address, . President Daniel H, (lilnian, LL.I) , of Johns Hopkins University. Address, ..... Hon. Stewart L. Woodford. Address, ..... Professor Moses Coit Tyler, LL. I). Music, .... Ithaca Quartette. Benediction, Rev. Charles M. Tyler. At the beginning of the exercises the President called attention to the fact that it was twenty-four years that very day since the doors of the University were first thrown open to the student world. In less than a quarter of a century the beautiful slopes of this hill-side had been converted from barren pasture- 26 /:.\'/:/^C/S/:S A T THE OJy-:NIN(! OF THE land into the thriving abode of an important seat of learning. Bnilding after bnilding had arisen to testify to the demands of the public and the prosperity of the University. To-day, he said, we come together with glad hearts to cele- brate the completion of what mnst for all time be the most important struct- ure on these grounds. After music by the Ithaca Quartette, the Rev. Professor Charles M. Tyler offered the following PR.WKR. O God, our Father, whose wisdom and power and mercy are from everlasting, it is fitting that in the small and great transactions of life, we confess our need of thine assistance. Encir- cled by thy Providence, and liorne on the currents of thine infinite purjiose, we can do nothing without thy permission ; certainly cannot defeat thy will. What we shall this day accomplish will launch an influence to be felt for many generations. We thank Thee for the gift to us and to the world of this noble edifice, founded and reared by the sacrifices of one, to whose heart are always dear the honor of God and the welfare of hu- manity. Accept our gratitude for the immense blessing which, through his benevolence and toil, thou dost confer upon us. May this majestic spire and massive walls stand for centuries unshaken ; may all the wisdom of the past atid teachings of the present time, garnered here with pious care, never l)e jnit to ignoble use. We stand here to-day before the destinies which await us. The curtain which, with its invisible folds, hides the future from us, sways as if about to part and reveal the grandeurs of Eternity to us all. He who to-day by this gift is so deserving of our gratitude, will soon with us all pass beyond the stars, and our duties and .solicitudes be a.ssunied h\ those who shall ri.se up after us. May an enduring gratitude spring up in the hearts of all who in the centuries to come shall throng to these halls of learning for the bless- ings and privileges this day secured by a noble benefaction. Thnjugh Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. The Ithaca Quartette then sang " Alma Mater," after wliicli the President introduced Mr. Sage as the one whom, above all Dtliers, the audience had assem- bled to hear. Prcsciitntion A66rcss bu IWv. Snnc. Gentlemen of the Board of Trustees, Mr. President, diid Ladies and Coiilrvioi : Among llic iiKisi important gifts to Conull I'liiversity after its original en- dowment by Ezra Cornell, was the stone Library building, the corner stone of which was laid in 1S69, and the completed house presented and delivered to us in the fall of 1872 by John McGraw. The chime of bells was presented h\ Jennie McGraw, and from thai lime to this the home of our libnirv has lieen there. Our equii)ment in books was small. .At the beginning in 1S69 we had iS,ooo volumes. Two years later, in June, iy his princely gift of tliis noble dwelling and its endowment, has laid the broad and firm foundations for a great university library; you, sir, by the gift of your rich historical collection, have so greatly strengthened our libra- rj- on its weakest side, that we ma}- even now fairh^ claim for it a place among the great libraries of our land ; it remains for us, b\- wise administration of its resources, to make it, as I trust some here to-day may live to see it, one of the great libraries of the world. liistoricnl ACliress by i).nnic( C if%\\\\\tixx, X^.D., PRESIDENT OF JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY. There are da3-s in the lives of iustitulions, as well as of individuals, when we enter the realms of poetr}^ and seem to be walking in the Elysian Fields. Such a daj- is this. As I went this morning through these halls where silence is elo- quent, it was like a dream. Such arrangements for the care and use of books are ideal. In anv building it is rare to find the omnipresent union of beaut}- and utility, which your gifted architect has .secured in this structure; it is most rare to see a iibrarj' where, amid ornaments that allure and inspire the scholar with- out distracting his attention, the varied needs of various readers are adequatel}- supplicd. Here, as in many other libraries, are collected the priceless books of literature, history, philo.sophy, .science, architecture, and art, from the Book of the Dead on papj'rus, which faces us at the threshold, to the latest records of human thought, — but here, as in few other places, such treasures may be enjoyed with abundant light, in an equable temperature, in the atnuisphere of repose, with learned and ready teachers near at hand, and with opportunities to enter those glorified cells of the cloister which we call tlie Seminaries of Knowledge. In the name of American scholars far away, I join witli von, ladies and gentlemen, in thanking your great benefactor, Mr. Sage, in thanking his generous all}-, Presi- dent White, and in thanking the authorities of Cornell Universitv for the exam- ple that is here set for American colleges to follow. Such arc the tlioughts awakened in this place and at this uionKiit, but I am CORXEl.L ( AY / V-.A'.S/ / ) ■ /.//IK. IK Y. 4 I here not to talk of j^our own treasures. It is rather my privilege to bring before you the thoughts that were suggested at a distance by a knowledge of this remarkable gift. As I proceed you will not be surprised if in one mood I am retrospective, in another prospective, in both circumspective. I write the opening lines of this address in one of the shrines of American education. It is in suggestive Stratford, of Connecticut — the library of Samuel Johnson, first president of the first college established in llic province of New York. With his books are those of his illustrious son, William Samuel John- son, second president of the .same college, now called Columbia. Here hang their portraits and those of their distinguished kindred. Here are original let- ters received from famous Englishmen and Americans of colonial daj's. The library' is " stratified." Each owner has added to his inheritance, and the de- posits, like fossils, reveal the life-histories of several generations. Here, for example, is a cop}' of Viner's Abridgment of English Law, brought home in the saddle-bags from New York, volumes after volumes, by a promising youth who was destined to become one of the authors of the Constitution of the United States. Here are two folio volumes of Johnson's dictionary sent to his New England correspondent by the great lexicographer, unconscious of the coming days when three New Englanders, Webster, Worcester, and Whitney, would recast and enlarge the great vocabulary. Every book, every portrait, every paper has its story. But none are so sug- gestive to me as those of Bishop Berkeley. I take down his own writings, I read the record of his life in Newport, and the narrative, well told by Dr. Beardsley, of the intimate relations between the author of .\lciphron and his friend in Stratford, and I am reminded that when the disheartened idealist was about to return to the old world, Samuel Johnson visited him at Whitehall and made a suggestion which soon bore fruit — ten-fold, a hundred-fold, a thousand- fold, who shall say ? He proposed to Berkeley to send some books to the college in New Haven, and by-and-by they came. Rector Clap said it was the choicest collection which had ever been imported into this country at one time. It gave dignity at once to the institution at New Haven. It brought before the students and instructors perhaps a thousand well chosen volumes, many of them folios, by classical authors, theologians, philosophers, historians. It became the mag- net to which students were attracted. Other gifts were drawn to it, and now a native of the very town in which Johnson was born,* has provided for the books * Mr. .S. H. Cliitleiuii-ii, a native of Guilford, Conn. 42 /f.v/r/?r/.vA'.v ./•/■ THi-: opf.xixg of thf. of Berkele}', and for all subsequent accessions, a building which is remarkable for dignity, convenience, and the beauty of adaptation. Berkelej-'s gift was an epoch in the history of American libraries, but it was not the da^-spring, for long before, John Harvard had bestowed his books on the collesre that bears his name. The founders of Yale took from their own shelves the books which constituted the original propert}- of the college. A little later Jeremiah Dummer sent to Connecticut man}' valuable works contributed by English donors, among whom were Sir Isaac Newton and Sir Richard Steele. Nevertheless the collection that came from Bishop Berkeley was so large, so timely, and so choice, and moreover was given so cordially by a Churchman to Puritans, that it is right for us, on this memorable da}-, to pause and pay our reverence to the name of that rare man, possessed of " every virtue under heaven." Has not the spirit of Berkeley remained in the new world he loved so well ? Has it not descended upon the founder of this library, who likewise believes in the union of Religion and Learning, and who does what he can for the promotion both of Knowledge and Faith ? These historical allusions may be carried too far, yet if Bishop Berkeley is borne in mind. Doctor Franklin must not be forgotten, for he was engaged in 1 73 1, the vcar when Johnson paid a parting visit to Berkeley, in founding a libra- ry in Philadelphia, to which, some years later, James Logan made his memorable additions. The examples of Berkeley and Franklin are an inheritance better than great riches. Nothing which they proposed could be narrow, or provincial, or .sectarian, for they were men of broad views as well as of generous impulses. One was a bishop, one a statesman ; one an idealist, one thoroughly practical : both were philosophers and philanthropists who deserve to be remembered in every library of this land. Even with the aid of these generous sponsors, the infant libraries of this country grew up very slowly. -K century pas.sed after Berkeley's gift l)cfore they reached maturity. It was not until 1S31 thai the potent influence of Anthony Panizzi was brought to bear u])nn the arrangement and administration of the British Museum. I quite agree with the learned librarian of Cambridge, who .said to me, not many days ago, with reference to the wonderful advances of the last half century in bibliothecal management, " the modern impulse is due to Paniz/.i." This great man was more than a public fnnclionarv, more than a bib- liographer, more tlian an antiquary, more than the keeper of the printed books. Other foreigners in ICngland have won renown, like Bunsen in diplomacv and archaeology, Max Muller in philology, Ro.setti in literature, and in an\- such pui- COKXELI. r.\l\ l-.RSI I Y I.IIIRAIkV. 43 suit Panizzi might have gained distinction. If lie chose a career of less note, he so exalted that calling b}- his learning, wisdom, administrative power, and regard for public interest, as to make it an honor to belong to the Librarian's guild, to the school of Panizzi. Three centuries hence his name will be recalled as Frenchmen now recall the name of Jacques de Thou, the learned historian who, three centuries ago, was ])laced by Henry IV over the library of the king, and transformed it into the national lil)rary, whicli is now one of the greatest glories of Paris and of France. But I must not be diverted from what I had to sa}' in respect to the modern advancement of American libraries. When Professor Kingsley went to Europe in 1845 to buy books for the library of Yale, that collection numbered 34,00x3 volumes. Harvard was better off, for it counted 61,000 volumes, and was supple- mented b\- the neighboring Athenaeum in Boston. At that time the collections of other colleges were even less significant. Any one who is curious as to such statistics maj- find them carefully arranged in the American Almanacs of the period referred to. Our modern era begins with the establishment of the Boston Public Library, Anno Bibliothecce Bostonicnsis condiUr. Its influence upon the country may be compared with the opening of the Central Park in New York, foremost of many public pleasure-grounds ; with the iniilding of Trinity Church in Boston, the emanciption of American architecture ; and with the foundation of Cornell Uni- versit}-, pioneer in many college improvements. It was a fortunate misfortune that removed Professor Charles C. Jewett from the Smithsonian Institution and placed him at the head of the Boston Library. He was not more learned nor more devoted nor more wise than Dr. Cogswell, then engaged on the foundations of the Astor Librarv ; he was not more sagacious or practical than Mr Herrick of New Haven, an ingenious master of details ; but he was fcn'tunate in the environment of Boston. Public opinion in that city demanded such a library as Professor Jewett had conceived, free, large, well catalogued, adapted at once to the public and to the scholar, dependent i)artly on the civic chest, partly upon the private purse, fitted to furnish entertainment and pleasure to the weary workman, fitted to inspire and satisfy the most gifted genius. The Harvard Library was accessible to the college, and the Boston .A.theuieum to its share- holders, and the IMercantile Library to its subscribers ; but the public called for something larger, freer, better, " open to all," like the schools of which Boston has ever been proud. Everett, Ticknor, and many more of those whom Webster called " the solid men of Boston," became trustees and benefactors of the new undertaking. 44 /■;.VA'A'(;"/.s7-..s- .// /"///■; (>/'A.\7.\v; oi- rill: The spirit of this library did not depart w lien the spirit of Jewett was called upward. Justin Winsor cai-ried forward iu a noble wa}- the work that had Ix-en so well begun, and his colleagues and successors, librarians and trustees, have advanced the library to a very high degree of perfection. When it is trans- planted, as it soon will be, to the magnificent building on the Back Baj', near to the Museum of Fine Arts, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Museum of Natural History, and the Medical School of Harvard University, the world will see distinctl}' what an American city can do in the course of thirty years, for the delight, the instruction the elevation and the cultivation of the people. There are times when we lament with good reason the degenerac}- of city government, and grow indignant at the triumph of unworthy men and unworthy measures ; and where we are righteously impatient for reforms so needed and j^et so slow to come; but we cannot despair of the Republic if we re- call what a single generation of nnited citizens has accomplished in Boston, or if we look at three noble foundations in and near the Central Park of New York, or if we turn to Chicago coming to the front with two libraries, richly endowed, a buoyant university, and a promi.sed exhibition of the progress of the liberal arts and sciences. I will not venture to say which of the new library buildings of this country will prove to be the best. Each may be best in its own place, for its own pur- poses. Some of the less famous structures, like the Rindge Library at Cam- bridge, the Buffalo Public Library, the Worcester Public Library, are doubtless as good as the greater structures in New York, Boston, New Haven, Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, Milwaukee and Chicago. In lighting, heating, airing and shelving, the new buildings are admirable; many of them also, in exterior aspect. Copies of Greek temples, like the Rush Library of Philadelphia, and suggestions of Gothic chapels, like Gore Hall and the old library of Yale College (which were built half a century ago), are no longer in demand — a satisfactory change, due in part to the able architects who have been engaged during the last ten or fifteen years in library construction, and in part to the experienced criticism and coun.sel of li1)rarians like Dr. Poole. In the preparation and publication of catalogues the work of Jcwctt, Ezra Abbot, Poole, Winsor, Spofiford, Cutter, Uhler and others has left but little room for suggestions or improvements, although rumors come from San Francisco that great economies are still in prospect, — especially for printed catalogue. Facile administration has been secured by numerous convenient and inexpensive devices, suggested by Dewey and his collaborators. The i)r()mptness with which any book (Okw/:/./. I \Ji/:h'sn )/.//!/■:. i/n\ 45 among a hundred tliousaiul ni;iv Ik- idtMUifR-d and summoned, as if it were touched bj' an electric wire, is an unfailing surprise to those who are wont to spend liours in their own dens looking for some long-lost friend, and an unfailing gratification to cverj- bus}' student. Mr. Winsor has devised the mechanical devices by which any book among ten millions may be brought to the table where it is wanted in three or four minutes, and it is reported that the devices will be intro- duced in the new librarv of Congress. The time during wliich public libraries may be visited has been greatly extended. Vacations have been reduced to a mininuini. Many large collections are opened until late in the evening, and with the spread of electric lights, like those of Columbia College, the usage will grow. In the building where we are assembled, not only electric lighting, but also the automatic regulation of the temperature has been introduced. Some are open on Snndav's, harbingers of the good time coming when on the daj- conse- crated to rest and quiet, those who would listen to the great thinkers of ancient and modern times shall not be debarred from the halls where living and departed worthies hold silent converse with enquiring minds. The office of a principal librarian is recognized as so dignified and important as to call for the services of scholars, of learning varied and exact, whose skill in collecting books is equalled by their skill in the diffusion of knowledge. Numerous assistants are essential. The art of index-making has been greatly developed and put into practice — thanks partly to the persistence of Dr. Allibone, who enclosed in his letters to literary men exhortations and appeals, and partly to the verj- great utility of Poole's Indexes to periodical literature. The most recent illustration of this art is among the best, an index (in ninety finely printed pages) to the pro.se writ- ings of Lowell, prepared by a librarian whose name I will not pronounce lest I should violate his confidence or offend his modesty. Tlic prompt acquisition of books, especially from foreign lands, is no longer a luxury like tlie importation of spices and gems ; it is a necessity if American scliolars are to keep in touch with tlic pulsations of humanity All this requires a great deal of money. Fortunately rich men and generous are not wanting. A favorite mode of be- stowing wealth is the establishment of a library. Witness the noble gifts of the Astors, of Bates, Peabody, Rush, Lenox, Newbury, Crerar, Chittenden, and of many more. Those I have named are all departed founders. Among those who are living, the highest meed of admiration and gratitude is due to Henry W. Sage, the noble benefactor of Cornell University, whose magnificent gifts we celebrate this da}-. Yet we must not suppose that our public libraries are perfect. There is 46 EXERCISES A T THE OPENIXC OF THE much to be doue, everywhere, even in tliosc which arc best managed, before the ideal of Panizzi is reached, which he once expressed in some such language as this: I would have a public library- so complete that a scholar, however rich, will find it a more convenient working-place than his own study, however well equipped. Printed books — not to speak of newspapers, handbills, fl^Meaves and other ephemera — increase so fast that it would be unreasonable, if it were possible, to bring them all under one roof. Even for the publications of a single countrj^ it may be enough if there are one or two store-houses, like the library of Congress, the British Museum, the National Library of Paris, and the like, where complete- ness is the aim Among other libraries some principle of diflferentiation must be worked out. In a large city this is not difficult. Let me give \ou an example from the city of Baltimore, partly because I am most familiar with it, partly because of certain unique advantages it possesses. In that place the Peabodv Librar}- ma^- be found, a modern, well chosen, well housed, well arranged, well catalogued collection of more than one hundred thou- sand volumes, the books of which (with a few exceptions) are retained within four walls, where any inquirer may find them. Not far away is the library of the Johns Hopkins ITniversitv, arranged on the opposite principle, under ten roofs, and in even more compartments, so that the teachers and students of any branch ma\- have at hand in tlie seminary or laboratory the books most important for the prosecution of that study. The Assyrian texts which delight one group of .schol- ars do not embarrass the chemist, whose journals do not weigh down the shelves devoted to classical literature. Crelle's Journal of Mathematics is precious in the sight of another group of students, to whom the stor}- of Aucassin and Nic- colete suggest no attractions. Near these scholarly foundations is a free, public and popular library', the gift of Enoch Pratt, with five distant branches. Most of the Pratt books are for circulation, and every one w lio wislies, rich or poor, mav take home his volume .Around these central institutions are special lil)raries, under different control, for law, medicine, and theolog}-. There is al.so a large historical library and a society library, the New Mercantile, wlicre llie snliscrib- ers have free access to the book-shelves. Tims witliin a circle wlu)se radius is a third of a mile, over three hundred thousand books are accessible to any student. Few cities in this country supply so well the wants of everv class. The princi- ple of differentiation works admirabl}', because eacli foundation considers the needs of its own clients, and supplies them as far as possible, and all are thus satisfied. In the conduct of a single librar\- — the only one of a jilace — the same princi- pie may, in part at least, be made eflRcient. All books arc not of equal value, and the same book varies in value, not only at different times, but also in differ- ent places. A volume may have its chronolojjical and geographical value. That which is precious to-day was at one lime valueless, or it would not have disap- peared like the fragments of tlic Antiope of Euripides, lately found by Mr. Petrie, in a mass of waste paper. Tlial w hicli is of slight value to-day may be- come so rare as to be priceless four centuries lience, as are now the original printed letters of Columlms. Books tliat a single writer may wish to consult but once in a lifetime, though as worthless as brown paper to all but liim, maj'' be to him inestimabk-. Rooks tliat have slumbered for man\' decades suddenly awake from their letharg}- and become living, like Rip van Winkle, perhaps at the touch of a discerning critic who calls them from the tombs, or perhaps at the occurrence of some unexpected event which excites the public curiositv, as the " Partisan Leader" was revivified in the beginning of the Civil War. The tech- nical treatises, the nuggets of Americana, the first editions of famous authors, the dissertations of Doctors of Philosopliv have their value when in place; out of place, the}- ma}' be like the straw from which wheat has l)een threshed. It is not safe for a librarian to destro}' an}' book, lest it should presently be in demand. What then can keep the shelves from encuml)raiice ? Onlv constant elimina- tion, convenient storage, frequent rearrangement. The books less wanted must be stacked away, half a mile away, if you please, and the books most valued must be brought forward. Constant readjustments are essential to the healthy vitality of a library. This is troublesome, costly, difficult. But public libraries are troublesome, costly, hard to administer. As in a garden, weed the flower-beds everv season ; but remember that weeds are flowers out of place. The grass which is welcomed on the lawn may be spurned from the rosary. That wliich spoils the strawl)errv-patch looks well upon the hedge-row. So let everv library, like every plantation, be suitably divided; here grow fruits, here blossoms, here \egetables, here trees, and yes, here also mushrooms. But heed the cautions of " My Summer in a Garden," and beware of too much " pus- ley." A library is valued not by the quantity it contains, but by adaptation to its clientel age. " I would as soon tell you how many tons the Astor Library weighs, as how many volumes it contains," said its first librarian, the learned Dr. Cogsw-ell. Twenty thousand volumes well chosen and well arranged are worth more than ten times that number hurriedly amassed and ill-assorted. The principle of a compositor's case in a ])rintiug-ofiice directly applies to a library. That which is constantlv in demand, like the letters r and <^ must be at the fin- 48 EXERCISES AT 77 fE OPENING OE THE ger's end; that which is rareh- wanted, like a caret, or some other unusual mark of punctuation, may be placed at arm's length. The task of a librarian is not half done when the books are collected and conveniently arranged. They must be exposed, exhibited, set forth ; that is, they must be brought to the attention of those who resort to the library, even if they know not what they want. Every scholar, every author of a great book, at least of ever}' great book that involves research, is under obligations to the bibli- ographers. Look at the prefaces of Prescott, Sparks, Palfrey, and many other writers in the neighborhood of Boston, and see their ackn()\\legments to Charles Folsom. But such indebtedness is not always acknowledged. I suppose that when the oracles of Apollo were revealed at Delphi, the priestesses did not always receive the recognition that might have been agreeable, but they were satisfied becau.se the Shrine was held in reverence. The more it became a resort for the wise and the powerful, the more the guardians were pleased. So modern librarians, like ancient prophets, reveal what is hidden and interpret what is obscure, preferring usefulness to fame. What is true of advanced schol- ars is likewise true of beginners. Every 3'oung person, every merchant's clerk, ever}' aspiring mechanic, every college student, every candidate for professional distinction, needs to be told w hal books to read and what to eschew. Capital guides nia\' indeed be found in print, like the hand-book of historical literature prepared b\' President Adams, like the guide to English history by Gardiner and Mullinger, like Sonnenschein, Sargent and Whitelaw, Acland, and other kindred hand-books, admirable coun.sels are given by Frederick Harrison and Sir John Lubbock. Still, the best of such guides are not like personal friends, wise, friendl}' and sympathetic. I am fond of quoting to young men a remark of Grant Duff, to the effect that if we would read, see and know llic I)est that the world contains, we must always be warned against the second-best. But the best for one reader ma}- be worse than useless for another. It is for the librarian to make the personal equation. He will not offer Sordello to one wlio wants an introduction to Browning, for he will remember Carl^de's sa\ing that his wife read the volume through without discovering whether Sordello was a man, a city, or a book ; nor will he give Perlz's Monumenta to the beginner in German his- tory ; nor Newton's Principia to one who asks for a simple statement of the law of gravitation. He will not bring out the Oxford dictionarj- to a reader who is interested in words beginning with F, nor will he refer to the re])orts of the British Patent Office for a compact account of the steam-engine. He will not suggest RoUo in Europe to the ])r<)spcctive tourist if Badeker is within reach, C OKXliL L I Nl I J:US/ TV 1. 1 UN. \RY. 49 nor supply a Board of Agriculture- with tuL-lve copies of Miss Edgeworth on Irish Bulls.''' I might uanie librariaus who are masters of the art of adaptation : born to be teachers, delighting to bring the right book to the right person at the right time. There are two towns in New England where the public libraries, not very large and not very well endowed, are centres of light to all the conimunitj-. Here come the school-teachers and their pupils, the preachers and the editors, the physicians and the lawyers, llie iuNunlors and the professors, the tired and sick seeking refreshment, the strong and hearty renewing their strength, and none are .sent hungrv awa}-. Each is sure that he has found the best for his purpo.ses that the library contains. Worcester owes a great debt to Samuel S. Green ; Providence, to W. E. Foster. It was Green who said, in 1876, "there are few pleasures comparable to that of associating continually with curious and vigor- ous 3'oung minds, and of aiding them in realizing their ideals." I have known, on the other hand, libraries w-here a book off the shelves was regarded as a book out of place, where the librarians were indeed the keepers of the books, where ever}' inquiry for a rare or costly volume was received by the officer in charge with as much reserve as if his private cash-book had been called for. The dictum of Justin Winsor is worthy to be placed b}' the side of Panizzi's dictum ; " A book is never so useful as when it is in use." In these days when the cry for university extension is popular, it may be well to consider whether the influence of libraries cannot be extended by arrange- ments which will increase their efficiency. Suppose it to be understood that at certain times an intelligent and well-read person, in the service of the librar}-, is free from all other duties and is ready to give counsel about books to all who question him. Let it be a part of his business to study the wants of those who frequent that library. Let him have at his elbow the best catalogues, indexes, and criticisms. Let him be trained to such haliits that he can readily find what he wants in a librar}-, even when for tlie first time his attention is called to a sub- ject. Let him be of a kindly disposition, patient with the uninformed, ready to catch the meaning of inquirers who have only imperfect modes of indicating their own wants ; let his sympathies be broad, his intellect versatile, his knowledge comprehensive ; he will do as much for the cultivation of the community as the . editor of a newspaper, as the head of a school, as the pastor of a church — perhaps I might say as much as all three. Such persons are often found in public insti- tutions. They ought to be considered as indispensable members of the library staff, the ushers of good books, the mediators between those who write and those * See Painzzi's Life. 50 EXERCISES .IT THE OPEX/XG OE THE who read. In these reuKuks 1 Iiad cliietly in luiiul llic ])()pul:ir library. In learned libraries, like those of colleges and universities, and in tliosc so richly endowed that they are attractive to learned men, tlic principal librarian or super- intendent should be a man of wide knowledge. If it is not necessary for him to know as many languages as Mezzofanti, he should at least command Greek and Latin, French and German. He should love science as well as literature. He should survey with an eagle's eye the vast fields of human activity, and discern with prophetic instinct what books will soon be wanted. He should watch for opportunities as do merchants, to purchase that wliich rarely comes into the mar- ket. He should be skillful in arranging the treasures that he guards, so that they will be most helpful and suggestive to the investigator. The librari- an's office should rank willi that of a professor. He will be the better adminis- trator if he cultivates his own special l)ranch of study, for thus he will have a sympathetic relation with other investigators, and he will be the better investi- gator if he is also a teacher. PCrndition should be the characteristic of his mind; beneficence, of his heart. I wish it were the established custom to seek out such men and place them in charge of our libraries. Some such already hold con- spicuous stations. Their names are familiar to all the scholars of the laud. But we need more such men. The profession of a Librarian should be distinctly rec- ognized. Men and women should be encouraged to enter it, should be trained to discharge its duties, and should be rewarded, promoted, and honored in propor- tion to the .services thev render. The American Library Association is an im- portant agency for suggesting, upholding, and diffusing wise views upon library management. Its purpo.ses and methods deserve wide comme:idation. It is hardl}- necessary to sa}^ that one of the functions of a library is the pre- servation of the past experiences of our race ; but in tliese days, when the latest intelligence is most welcome, and is secured for us, at enormous outlays, from every part of the world b\- llie newspaper press, with such skill and pn)ni])lness as former generations did not even imagine, it is well to be reminded by great libraries that wisdom did not begin witli tlie Renaissance, and that knowledge^ was recorded long before the invention of printing. Tiie revi\al of learning did indeed infn.se into the modern world a love of the study of anlicjuil\-, wliich has* been again revivified during the last few years; and the j)rogress of the graphic' arts, especially ])hotography and typography, has cnaliled the scholar to read the- exact fac-similcs of records which were long buried and hidden, and which, if l)rought t«) light at an earlier day, miglit have been neglected as inaccessible, in- explicable, or illegil;le. Tlie discovery of a jiorlion of Aristotle's Politics has CORXELL UNI I 'A A'.SV / } " /. /A'A'. / A' ) ', 5 1 lately excited the scholars of thu world, as if a pot of gold had been found at the foot of a rainbow, and the text thereof may be brought before a class by Professor Wheeler in Ithaca as well as b}* Mr. Kenyon in London, because the British Museum has given to the world an accurate reproduction made b}- the unerring style of Helios. The Teaching of the Apostles, one of the earliest books of po.st- apostolic times, presented in the library of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem, has been printed with photographic Irutli in Haltimore. A professor of Haverford College visited the convent of St. Catherine at Mt. Sinai, long after Tischendorf, and brought away a transcript of a Syriac Aristides, containing a distinct allu- sion to a written gospel, which Harnack calls a brilliant discovery.* Fragments of Greek authors, recently found upon pap\-ri, have given to the world of schol- ars, says Professor Jebb, such a ripple of excitement as might have been felt on the discovery of a manuscript in the days of Petrarch. These finds are not mere curios. Isolated, they might be insignificant ; in their relations, they are of great importance. It is the nineteenth century that has restored Egypt to her place in ancient history, by the interpretation of her hieroglyphics ; that has ex- humed Assyrian and Babylonian literature and translated the cuneiform annals of ancient Mesopotamia ; that has revealed the site of Troy, and of Tiryns, older than Troy ; that has explored Phenicia and Carthage, and has come upon signs, as Mr. Petrie intimates, that a European civilization little indebted to Asiatic lands may have arisen before 2000, B. C. All this experience great libraries perpetuate for our instruction and delight. So long as curiosity dwells in the mind of man — and when curiosity dies man will be but a beast of burden — so long will he enquire into the origin of man, his habits, his laws, his religions, his institutions, his failures, his endeavors. Our libraries, therefore, gathering up, handing down, arranging, interpreting and making public the lessons of the past, supply one of the most constant and one of the noblest demands of civilization. It is not necessary to determine where the functions of the archaeologist end or those of the librarian begin. Both are the interpreters of human experience, the conservators of human records. The fly-leaf, the pamphlet, the book, the photograpii, the palimpsest, the parchment, the inscription upon marble or bronze, the coin, the medal, the papyrus, and the wedge-lettered cylinder — these are the journals, the annals, the centuries of hu- manity. Bring them together, founders of libraries ; interpret them, professors of languages ; give us their lessons, teachers of history ; that the days to come * For this allusion ami two of the following, see the .Address of Professor Jebb, as President of the Society for Promotiii;; Hellenic Studies, June, iSgt. 52 £.\7:/^c/s/:S .// /'///■: (i/'/:a7.V(; o/' riir. ma}' be better than llie- days of old, that the- errors of sciL-iice, of politics and of religion may not be repeated, that coming generations, standing on the shoulders of their forebears, maj- see further and act wiser than those who have gone be- fore. A librarj', however, is not merely a magazine or storehouse. It is rather to be likened to an organism which has life, which tends to self-preservation, growth and reproduction. It is never the same, not because its elements are shaken up like the beads of a kaleidoscope, but because they grow like the cells of a honey- comb. Constant readjustment of the books that arc in demand and no interfer- ence with the reader's convenience may be called Lhe librarian's paradox. The problem was solved b}- Panizzi, on a great scale, when the new rooms of the British Museum were arranged ; by Uhler, on a lesser scale, when the Peabody Institute was enlarged. It must be met by ever}' librarian who tries to keep in proximity the important books of any subject, while he sees inviting accessions constantly seeking places, A noble library is a noble organ. Its value depends upon the player. Not everybody who can blow the fife or beat the drum can elicit an organ's harmony. Not everybody who enjoys the music can play a single strain. Not every one who can build the instrument, or who understands the mysterious mechanism of keys and stops and pedals, has the power of melodious expression. But when a master sits at the keyboard, celestial harmonies are heard : history, philosophy, science, poetry, all the muses hover near. Inspiration is one of the chief functions of a library. In these days of rapid acquisitions, quick demand for the latest publications, and impatience if a book cannot at once be produced, our libraries are in danger of losing one of their mo.st precious qualities — quiet suggestiveness. In every iMbliotheca there should be places of repose where the student may have access to tlie shelves, and, without revealing to any other liiinian iiiiiid the operations of his own, may take down, at his own will, and hold for a minute or a day whatever books he ])leases. Car- lyle was refused such a ])rivilege at the British Museum — and what a blunder! Mark Pattison might have consoled him with the like experience of Casaubon — scholarly friend of Henry IV of F^rance and of James I of England — who was "perpetually thwarted in his natural curiosity to explore the treasures of the* royal library in Paris by the morose temper of the custodian — too ignorant to u.se the library himself, too jealous to allow otiiers to use it." Of Gosselin, who thus thwarted Casaubon, it is recorded that in tlu- imbecility of extreme old age he still clutched his treasures with desjK-rate grip.* * Piiltison's Casiiu)>tiii. (VM'.Wf/./. r.\7/7-.A',s7/)- I IlikWRY. 53 The principal librarian, or if not llic- lihrarian ilit-n tlit- trustees of every large collection, should have the discretion to admit to the shelves those who are quali- fied in their morals as well as in their understandings to enjoy such privileges. The easy access of the public to twenty or thirty thousand volumes like those which surround the walls of the central reading-room of the British Museum is important, but it is likewise important that men like Casaubon, men like Carlyle, men like Macaulay, slionld l)e welcome to the very penetralia. Wherever they go the}- will bring fortli lioney. Repose in a library will become one of the lost illusions of tlie scholar, if our librarians, with over-readiness to answer the enquiries of the asker of " twenty questions," are not even more alert to recognize and encourage the modest unob- trusive lover of good books. The leisure reader is as worthy as the hurried caller. He is more likely to produce the fruits of quiet reflection and accurate scholarship. If it be said that Lowell is one of the last great writers who have given distinction to Boston during the middle of this centurj-, it may be worth while to enquire whether the gentle, inspiring, peaceful influences of literary Quietism, under which he and Emerson, Longfellow, Ticknor, Hawthorne, Mot- lej', and Prescott, and tlicir kinsmen of the pen grew up, are known to this gen- eration, and whether in our cultivation of other fine arts we arc not forgetting the noble art of leisure. Mr. Lowell is right in saying that a leisure class with- out a definite object in life and without generous aims is a bane rather than a blessing ; but it is the writer of the couplets on 3'onder bell " that calls as fl}- the irrevocable hours," who has taught in his life the uses of leisure, and in his verse, — the pleasures of retreat Safe from tlie crowd and cloistered from tin- street. It is Lowell, speaking to Curtis, who extols Calm days that loiter with siiow-silenl tread, Nor break \\\y commune with tlie undying dead ; Truants of Time, to morrow like to-day, That come unhid and claimless glide away. And Lowell, too, who wrote: I hear the voice as of a mighty wind From all heaven's caverns rushing unconfined ; " I, F'reedoni. dwell with knowledge ; I abide With men whom dust of Faction caiuiot blind To the slow tracings t)f the liternal Mind ; With men by culture trained and fortified." 54 EXERCISES A T THE OPEXING OF THE At the close of President Gilnuin's address, tlit- Hon. Stewart L. Woodford spoke briefly, emphasizing the great wisdom shown by Mr. Sage in doing his work of benevolence in his own lifetime, and not leaving it to be done by execn- tors after his death. The remarks of Mr. Woodford were followed by the ACiCtrcss of illoscs (Coit (Ttjler, X?L.^., PROFESSOR OF AMERICAN HISTORY. Mr. President., Ladies and Gentlemen : We must all have felt, as we have watched this noble business proceeding to its consummation here this afternoon, how true it is that everj^ good deed that is done in this world seems to bring along with it a fine spiritual atmosphere of its own, which actuallj' cheers, and strengthens, and makes better, even those of us who may have had no hand in the doing of the deed, — if only w^e be so fortunate as to stand near enough to breathe into our lungs some of that fine air, or even to feel upon our cheeks the pressure ot those breezy currents of moral energy which the good deed creates. Sometimes men and women come together to ded- icate a building like this, and happily by and by the}- go away finding that in the dedication of the building, they have also and more especially dedicated them- selves to all that is nol)lest and best in the purposes for which the building stands, and to all tliat is most disinterested and large-hearted in the spirit of some good man who may have caused the building to stand. So it may chance, that upon us who are here this afternoon, as well as upon this splendid librar}-, shall fall the con.secrating touch of this good deed of our good friend, — this good deed which now offers this grand building to the pursuit and the .service of all truth. For, certainlj', just that is what a liiirary is for, particularly a university- library ; it is for the pursuit and the service of all trutli. Tliis building, which for con- venience we call a library-, is for precisely llie same ultimate object, pursued up- on precisely the same methods though with different materials, as are those sev- eral other buildings in the neighborhood which we call laboratories ; and perhaps the true relations of tilings on this campus would be more clearly indicated, if, while we call one building the chemical laboratory, and another the physical laboratory, and so on, we were to call tliis building by so queer a name as the documentary laboratory. At any rate — and this is liie i)oinl which I wish especial!}- to reach — this building will miss its true object, in so far as it ever becomes a place for mere in- (VVv'A'AV.A /'.W/ AA'.S//)- A/A'A'. /A'): 55 tcllectiial frivolity, for literary (.-noisiii and Sflf-iiuhiljrcnce, for any sort of pedantry or scholastic foppery, or for such witless and mechanic reading as was meant by Scali^t^cr, when he described a certain Dutch ])rofessor of his time as " having read himself into ignorance." Nay, more, this building will miss its true object, in so far as it ever becomes a place for the partisan spirit in research, or for the sophistical spirit in exposition ; for anything, in short, but genuine in- tellectual life and work ; for auytiiing but honest work, and thorough work, and work which, because it is both thorough and hduest is also fruitful, — giving light and strength to the worker himself and to many another who may be like him in the common need of light and strength. .'\nd as for us of the Faculty, who, as .seekers after truth, and as teachers of it in this university, exist here for objects which make this library seem to be our great and magnificent ally, surel}- it is a deep happiness to us to have our part in the.se simple and sincere services of gratitude and of gladness which have already filled this occasion to the ver}' brim. And now, Mr. President, remembering the sharp time limit which vou have imposed upon me, I may be jierniitted, as I take mv seat, to convev to this as- semblage a special message of congratulation which comes to us from a far country — from a famous lover and collector of books, who wrought out his brave life-work in England more than five hundred 3'ears ago. His name was Richard de Bur}^, Bishop of Durham, and Lord High Chancellor; and his message to us this afternoon across half a thousand years is this : — " The glory of the world would perish in oblivion if God had not provided mortals with the remedies of books. Towers crumble to the earth ; but he whose book lives cannot die. And it is to be considered, lastly, what convenience of teaching is in books, how easilj-, how secretly, how safely, in books we bear, without shame, the poverty of human ignorance. These are masters who instruct us witliout rod and cane, without words and wrath, and for no clothes or money. If you approach them, thev are not asleep ; if you question them, they are not secret ; if you go astray, they do not grumble at you; they know not how to laugh if you are ignorant. O books! ye onl}' are liberal and free, who pay tril)ute to all who ask it, and set at liberty all who serve 3'ou faithfully." Sureh-, ladies and gentlemen, that old English prelate and scholar, who, far back in the fourteenth century, founded his noble library at Oxford, and put up- on record these words in prai.se of the benignity and the prcciousness of books, was the very man to rejoice with us in the goodly shelter and temple for books which is here provided by a man of a benignant s])irit kindred to his own. 56 EXERCISES A T THE OPENING. At the close of Professor Tyler's Address the Doxolog}' was sung ; after which Professor Charles M. Tyler prouoiinced the Benediction, and the audience dispersed, to devote a pleasant hour to a general inspection of the Library' build- ing. ^ UNIVERSITY' OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. on. JUN 2 1 IS 6^ 7' 9-10 4-9 V Form L9-32m-8,'58(587654)444 y 733 C81C81e filTf! MSS.:' - "it \.