The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1869-06-01
DIR. RUsBs REQUEST.

DIR. RUSHS BEQ UEST.
! Yesterday afternoon we published all the ma
| terial portions Of the last VIII and testament oil
| the late Dr. James Rush, who will henceforth
rank second only TO Stephen Girard as a bene-
factor of Philadelphia. By the generous proyi-
sions of his will, the bulk of his property is be-
queathed to his executor, in trust for the benefit
of the Library Company of Philadelphia, the
institution established by Benjamin Franklin in
1881. The most minute and specific directions
for the execution of the trust are contained in
the will, and ample provision is made for secur-
ing strict compliance with them, by depriving
the company of the trust in case it fails at any
time to adhere to the instructions OF the
testator.
The first material point in the will is the pro-
vision for the erection of commodious building
for the use of the Library Company, the execu-
tor being invested with the largest discretion in
the matters of location and STYLE If DR.. Rush's
muniicence had not extended beyond this point,
he would have justly earned the gratitude of all
the devotees of learning and culture in our
midst. The greatest drawback upon the Library
is the cramped and antiquated building in which
its treasures are at present deposited. Better
and larger accommodations will materially en-
large its sphere of usefulness and contribute
greatly to its popularity as a resort for all the
classes of our population.
But, in addition to the erection of new
building, which will be not less ornamental than
useful, there will be ample funds for steady
enlargement of the library by the addition of all
the works of intrinsic value which issue from
the press. Concerning this point the testator
has left some very curious provisions upon a
strict compliance with which he dwells with
singular persistency. He expressly desires that
while all needed accessiOns are to be made to the
shelves
"'The library company shall never make any efforts
to rival the other libraries Of America Europe in
the mere number of volumes they contain.
Let 1t rest in modest contentment in the useful
quality Of its volumes for the benefit the amuse
ment alone, Of the public, nor let it over an amb-
tous store OF inferior printed paper flap its imsy
leaves, and crow out the highest number OF worth
less books. Let 1t be favor for the eminent works
OF fiction to be found upon its Shelves but let it not
Keep cushioned seats for tme-wasting and lounging
ing reviews, controversial politics, scribblings OF
poetry and prose, biographies of unknown Names
nor FOR those teachers Of disjonted thinking the daily
newspapers, except, perhaps, for reference to sup
port since such authority could never prove the
thentic date Of an event"
These restrictions are characteristic of the
man. His sympathies were with the past; the
contemporaries of his active life have nearly all
passed away; he felt, as indeed he was a
stranger TO the world of the present, unconscious
of its true aspirations, unmndful, though not
entirely ignorant, of its demands. But no one
will lament the fact that he has closed the doors
of the Library to the ephemeral romances of the
day. Philadelphia possesses another institution,
large and tlourishing already, and promising con-
slant progress in the future, whose peculiar sphere
is to provide for the wants of the community in
this respect. The custom of a century has made
the Philadelphia Library II receptacle only for
the standard literature of the world, the material
upon which the mind of thorough culture or
substantial aspirations alone desires to draw.
But when DR.. Rush issued his edict against the
daily press. he fell unwittiugly into a serious
error. If he had been born q half century
later, with the same tastes and opportunities
for culture, he would have made no such
mistake as has been recorded against him over
his own signature The daily newspapers may
be sjointed' in their style, the necessary re-
suit of inevitable haste, but they are far from
being dis jOinted" in their teachings, and their
influence for good and bad upon the world at
large far exceeds, and for all time hereafter will
far exceed, that not only of the intrinsic works
which DR.. Rush desires to have place upon the
Library shelves, butas well that of the worthless
books against whose presence thereon he has so
strongly protested.
The restrictions with which he has encum-
bered his bequest, however, are of insignificant
proportions, when brought into comparison
with the magniicence of the whole design. 1t
may perhaps, be matter of regret that our
benefactor did not follow the example set in
Boston, by providing for the establishment of
great free library, Independent of all restrictions
or associations with other institutions. Yet his
generosity has been bounded only by the wealth
at his command, and all the specific instructions
which he has left concerning the administra-
tion of his bequest will tend simply towards
securing the consummatiOn of his wishes, the
steady enlargement and the perpetual prosperity
OF one of the chosen repositories of substantial
knoMlenre