The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-06-18

- ~ pIOoIOl
not fifty, volumes in that noble language
You have none Of the numerous writer
OF the vast empire of Russia, or of Poland
nothing of the curious l%ileratures of Hun
gary and Bohemia only the commones
books in Italian and Spanish ; not a vol
ume in the language of Portugal, rich a
1t is in various literature, and especially
in the wild yet true romance Of orienta
discovery and conquest, that comes dowr
to US through the pages OF learned d.
Blrros and quaint old Castanbeda, ring
ing upon the ear and stirring the blood
like the sound Of a far>off trumpet. In
the boundIess world, too, of oriental learn
ing, of which our increasing commercial
relations with the counties of the East
render it highly desirable that we should
possess the means OF acquiring knowledge,
you have nothing to shew but a few
translations of the Bible, and perhaps
some works of devotion or elementary re-
llgious doctrine, which American mis-
sionaries have presented you.
Will it not be admitted that an Ameri-
can library, the n%ationa! library oil a peo-
pie descended from men of every cline,
and blood, and language-a country
which throws open its doors as an asy>
lum for the oppressed of every race and
every tongue, should be somewhat more
comprehensive in its range That it
should at least have some representatives
OF human learning, some memorials of
every written tongue that is spoken with>
in its borders?
But, even in English literature, on. IL
brary is sadly meagre. How far are we
from possessing a tolerably complete se~
rles of the English printed books of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, or even
of that best age OF Eogiish Iearning,dhat
age with which every honest American
most truly sympathizes, the age Of Cfom-
! we'll and of Milton Would it not be
we'll to have at our command the means
of enabling some diligert scholar to write
what has not yet been worthily written,
or indeed scarce even attempted, a COM
plete history Of the literature Of our An
gIo>Saxon mother tongue-or to per-
form that Herculean task, which, in spite
of the Wanted but feeble labors OF Web
ster. remains still TO be accomplished, the
preparation Of a respectable English die
tionary?
If ghefe is any department Of learning,
in which a library selected for the use OF
the representatives of a democracy should
be complete. it IS that of history. But
what have we Of the sources of historical
Investigation Histories indeed we have,
but little history. True, we have Rob-
%ertson, and Hume, and Yollaire, and
Glbbon, and, above all, Alison, a popular
writer in these days, and
dixie Sir Agrippa, for profound
And solid lying, much renowned"
but of those materials from which true
history is 10 be drawn, we have little,
very little. The works belonging to the
proper history of the American continent
alone, every one of which it would be
highly desirable to possess; number Ger.
lainIy more than 10000 volumes, fully
equal TO one half the Congressional libra,
~, and Of these we have, as yet, but a
small proportion.
II the bounty ofthe generous foreigner,
in spite of the broad language which ex~
presses his liberal purpose, is to be con-
fined 10 the narrow uses which some
gentlemen propose, the appropriation of
$4,000 per annum is unnecessarily large,
at least for permanent expenditure. a
moderate amount would collect all that
is worth buying in the experimental sci.
ences, and a small annual appropriation
would keep up with the advance of knows
edge in this department. But it is due to
ourselves, due 10 our age, due 10 the lofty
views which inspired a benefaction so
spIendid-a gift cIogged with no narrow
condilions-that we act a more generous,
a wider, a more catholic spirit that We
remember, tha, "knowledge' embraces
other arts than those of bread that mans
economical interests are not his highest.
The purpose of the testalor, which we
are to carry out, was 'the increase and
diffusion of knowledge among men,
What, then, is the most efficient means
of increasing and diffusing knowledge
Increase, accumulation, must precede dit
fusion. Every rill supposes a fountain ;
and knowledge cannot 'fow down our
streets like a river" without there be frs:
built and filled a capacious reservoir, from
which those streams shall issue. 1t is an
error to suppose that the accumulation of
the stores Of existing learning, the aInass'
ing of the records of intellectual action,
does not tend also TO increase knowledge.
What is there meao in the material world,
except by extraction or combination 2
How are new substances formed, or the
stock of a given substance increased, by
the chemistry of nature or of art? BY
combinations or decompositions Of
known and pre,existing elements. The
products OF The experimental or manufac-
laboratory are nc knew creations ;
but their elements are fist extracted by
the decomposition Of old compounds, and
then recombinei in new forms. Thus is