Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1846-05-22
;,,;,,,;o, ,h,, az. m, ,,pe to kindle o lumnury
lns'.u'on' us ne oull nt, the earth and repay Ia

..,;,.,,;o, ,h,, ,,. o,, ,,pe TO kndle lumnory
whose light shall encompass .iu 9ait'i ana reIay 10
M t;,,r,,, Of ,.,,;,,', of which have spohen,
,ar,,i, siy Iir,os ,s 80 volumes the largest
An,or;c,, c,lian,,ors zen accumulated within
.nnn,,r,,;,ai, -, - scarcely n century,
and, having been selected UPON ,"ou p's" ny we
ablesi scholars in tho world, il , fe" u,oNs
ginally without merit few dupl r,vs i1u Jew when
the progress of science and lite. aro inV s rendered
worthless. Aud yet though uno" "is wl , uc oes'
existing library, it, in many experiments, does not APP
proach 10 completeness, aud the SCHOLARS who iesor.
10 II arc often Obliged TO seek clswhere sources OF
knowledge which Gottingen does net afford.
We shall perhaps he best able to estimate our own
DEFICIENCIES and wants by comparing the contents Of
our Congressional library wiki the actual extern, OF
existing literature The library Of Congress contains
more than AOoOO volumes in general valuable and
well chosen, with not many duplicates, not many
books that one would altogether reject. 1t is not
composed like too many of our public libraries, in
any considerable degree, of books which have been
gicen because the proprietor foanl them too worth.
less to keep but il has been almost wholly purchased
and selected from the best European sale catalogues,
and yet there is no one branch Of liberal study, even
among those greatest interests to oursclvcs,n which
II ls not mlserably deficient.
There is perhaps, no better general catalogue of
such hooks, in the various departments Of Earning,
as are priced by collectors than the Table MethodI-
que in the last edition of 'runets Manuel du Lbrare.
Brunei enumera,es more than $4,000 works, making,
specify only the most important and the rarest. The
list contains, doubt very many works of little in
,rnsic WORTH or even ndventitious interest; but It is,
perhaps, not too much to say, that library OF the
larger class ought to possess al least % O0O OF the
volumes II specifies. But this list Is even ioctabIy
complete in but few departments In French history
and literature, IN civil and International law IN the
history and literature Of classical antiquity and of
carly typography, in theology, in medicine, you will
find perhaps nearly satisfactory; hut in the history
and literature ofall other nations and in almost every
other field Of inquiry but those have mentioned, the
learned scholar will miss the titles of many more val
liable works ,hnn he will find, while many highly
interesting and important chapters are almost enre
blank. The Congressional library does not probably
contain one fourth even Of the small proportion OF
Brunei 9 list which have described as ofinirinsc and
permanent value But are there not numerous branch
es of knowledge well worthy place in every great
literary repository, and which vet wholly unrep-
resented in our alcoves? Let Us devote moment to
some dry statistics concerning the literature of Contl-
mental Eur,ns. The B.blotheca Historical Sueo-
Goihlca OF Warmhoitz the last vo.nme Of which M
peared IN 1917, onumeraes less than 10 600 works
illustrative Of the history Of Sweden alone; and the
thirty years since have added greatly to the number
The Liieratur Lexicon of Nycrup, published in 1920
gives the titles of probably equal number Of works
belonging 10 the literature of the countries subject
the Danish crown, Holland, TOO, has noble hs,orl-
ans, naturas's poets. and dramnliss, and has pro-
duced many works Of unsurpassed value upon the
history Of commerce and navigation. The list Of
Brunei contains not one in hundred Of the standard
authors these several countries and the library OF
congress, as FAR as remember, does not possess n
volume IN The language of either of them. Again,
consider the vast extent and unsurp1ssnc value ofhe
literature ofGermany. OF the 900 600 different vol
unes OF printed books supposed to exist it computed
that more than one third in the German language
The Earning of Germany embraces every field OF ht.
man inquiry, and the efforts Of her scholars have done
more to extend tho bounds fmodern knowledge than
the united labors Of the of the Christian world
Every scholar familiar with her erature-let me not
say familiar, for life is too short for any man to
count its bouudless treasures but every enlightened
student who has bu, dipped into il, will readily con-
less lis infinite superiority 10 any other Knight almost
say TO all other eratures Ii has been affirmed that
more than onchaf Of our population is of recent Ger
man origin, and German is the vernacllar tongue of
extensive districts OF American soil. Yet the library
OF Congress contains not one hundred. probably not
fifty, volumes in that nolle language. You have
none OF the numerous writers Of the vast empire of
Russia, or of Poland nothing o. the curious li.cra-
lures of Hungary and Bohemia only the commonest
books IN Italian and Spanish; not volume in the
Language Of Portugal rich it is in various literature
and especially in the wild yet true Of oriental
discovery and conquest that down to through
the pages Of learned De Barros and quaint old Catan
heda, ringing upon the and stirring the blood like
the sound of farof trumpet In the boundless
world, too oforlenal learning. OF which increas.
ing commercial relations with the countries of the
East render hiehly desirable that should pos
the means Of acquiring knowledge you have nothing
to shcw but few TRANSACTIONS of the Bible, and per.
maps some works Of devotion or elementary religious
DO ftrlne, which American missionaries have present
ed YOU.
win il no, he admitted that an American library
the national library Of a people descended from men
OF every cline, and blood, ana language "A country
winch throws open its doors an asvlum for the on
pressed of every race and every tongue, should be
more comprehensive in its rangel That
Il should least have representatives of every
branch ct human learning some memorials Of every
written tongue that ia spoken within its bordersl
Bn', even in EnG sh literature our library i. sadly
mDlurp, % nElt,,s,
complete series of the English printed books of the
ie NTH and sixteenth centuries even of that lest
age of English Earning, that age with which every
honest American most truly symDnthizes The ,re Of
Cromwell and of Mlon2 Would il no, he well 10
have a, orr command the means of enablin, some
iliyen scholar 10 write what has not vet been wor-
hlly written or indeed scarce even attempted, CON-
plate history of the literature of orr Anglo Saxon
mother tonGuc-or TO perform that Hcrculean task.
which, in spite of The Wanted but feeble labors of
Webster, remains still 10 be accomplished the prepar
alton of respectable English dictionary?
If there "a any department of Learning in which n
library selected for the of the representatives. ola
lemorrnr should be complete, it is that of history
But whit have we OF the sources OF historical nvcsi
pliionl Histories indeed we have, but lirlle hs,orv
True, we have Il 5ertson and Hume, and VoltairS
md Gibbon, and, above all, Alison, popular writer
in these days and
Like Sir A9riNpa, for profound
And solid lying, much renowned"
but Of those materinls from which true history is to
re drawn, we nave !ltlle, very ite. he works be-
longing 10 The proper history Of the American CONT
ncnt alone, every one OF which il would be highly
desirable 10 possess number certainly m re than 20
300 volumes fully equal to one-hsf the Congrcs.on-
nj library md OF these we have, as ye', but small
proportion.
1.-THE bounty ofIhc generous foreigner, in spite of
the broad language winch expresses his liberal pu-.
pose, l. 10 be confined 10 the narrowues which some
gentlemen propose, the appropriation Of $4,000 per
lnnun - unnecessarily large at least for permanent
rNleQ ltllTe, 4 moderate NvDuIl e.llept NIL
that sw)rh buying IN the experimental sciences and
q small ANIMAL appropriation would keep up with the
advance OF knowledge IN this department But it is
due 10 ourselves due to our age due TO the lofty
views which inspired benefac'on so splendd-a GIFT
clogsed with no narrow condtipns-,hat we act in n
more generous, wider more catholic spirit; that
we remember, that "knowed.e' embraces other arts
than those of bread that mans economical interests
are not his highest.
The purpose o! the testa,or which we are 10 carry
out was "the increase and diffusion Of kn.wledga ~
mong men" What, then is tho most efTcen, n,o,
OF increasing aud dl iusing knowledge? Increase a
cumn'a'lon must precode diff sion. Every rill .nn
Doses fountains and knowledge cannot 'now down
our streets Ho rser, without there be first buI,
ana hIieu cnpaclous Reservoir, from which III,
streams shall issue It's error to sumo. ,ha, Ia
accumu aion OF the stores of existing ieorninT III
a"nassinH oil me records of inteectua action does
not tend also to increase knowledge What il 81
nee N ,he material world, except by extraction n,
com lhdiloh' How are new substance, formed or
e stocN OF ae'en 'nbsance increa sed by the chero
istry OF nature or art? BY new combinarIons a. .e ~
compositions of known and pre- exis,ing ele,non W ue'
The products ofthe experimental or mannf'c,mrf
are no new creations but thor aI.m,n,, '"s