The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1872-08-28

4
The following appears in the Boston
Globe Of Saturday:
90 The requests of DF. Franklin to
the city of Boston, for the benefit Of
the public schools, and of the indus
trious mechanics Of this municipality
are familiarly known. 1t is, perhaps,
equally well understood that the doc
tor presented the town Of Franklin,
in this state, q library in acknowl-
edgement Of the compliment of the
adoption Of the town name. The
original correspondence in the matter
appears to have been lost, or, at any
rate, its whereabouts are not known
to those who should be most eonver
SAINT with the history Of the library
the citizens of the town. The cor
respondcnce, or at least the final part,
in which the proffer Of the books was
distinctly made, was with Rev. Ma
thaniel Emmons, ID. ID. The condi-
ton on which the gift was made ap-
pears to have been that the town
should add to the library an equal
number Of volumes, the doctor con-
tributing one hundred and sixteen
volumes. This was in the year 1856,
which is the date Of the founding of
the library, as is stated in the cata-
logue.
"Rumor pleasantly relates that the
original intimation of the inhabitants
or their committee to the doctor vas
their desire for church bell, and in
his reply he suggested that things OF
sense were more desirable than things
of sound, and proposed a library
( The living descendants of these peO-
p,e do not take much stock in this
story, and in the absence of the cor
respondence perhaps it is quite as well
to consider the aneedOte fabulous. At
any rate, if such an intimation was
made the doctor apprehended the
church going, and, perforce, tbeologi-
cal tendencies of the people, and
made up his mind to give an ample
supply of sound theological reading.
The catalogue as published contains
only list Of the books of Frankln's
contribution now remaining, eighty
seven in number. OF these, sixty
two relate to theological and religious
matters, leaving twenty-three secular
works and two doubtful.
The secular works include four vol
umes of Locke and one Of Sydney;
Montesquieu's Spirit of the Law {;
Blacks.one's Commentaries; Price on
Liberty, ON the American Revolution
and ON Morals; Gordon's Tacitus;
Life of Brainerd Hemmingway W.
Hopkins, probably law report; Life
of Cromwell; Watts Logic; History
of the Rebellion (English); Thomas
Laws of Massachusetts,; American
Constitution; Young's Night
Thoughts; Pilgrims Progress; Cheap
Repository. As doubtful may be
classed Needham's Free State and
Prideaux's Connections.
'1n theology we have Clark, HOad-
ley, Barron, Watson, Newton, on the
prophecies, Law, Priestley, LINDSEY,
Duchal, (sermons,) West and Little
ton, (on the resurrection,) Stewards
Sermons, ,Addison's Evidences, Watts
Orthodoxy and Charity, Bellamy's
True Religion and Permission of Sin,
Doddridge, Hopkins, Edwards, Dick
inson, ION the five points, Cooper,
(on predestination,) } Cambridge Plat
form, Barnard's Sermons, Shepard's
Sound Believer, Janewsy's Holy
Life, American Preacher, Emmon's
Sermons. OF these works, several
consist of more than one volume,
whereby the number of sixty two is
made up. The twenty-nine volumes
missing would probably exhibit an
equal proportion of theology. Of the
116 volumes added in compliance
with the terms of the gift, good
share appear to have been of SINH
larly edifying character.
Immediate action does not appear
to have been taken by the town, but
the town records of the year 1890
show that formal acceptance of the
gift was made, and the responsibility
of the preservation of the library was
assumed. Whatever may have been
the ups and downs Of fate in regard
to it, when next heard from BY the
record of history, so far as we have
been able to ascertain, its situation
was inglorious enough. In the year
1858 it, or what remained of it, was
found stored in barn by some enter
prising antiquaries, who bethought
themselves to hunt it up. Under the
presidency of DR.. Oliver Dean, the
founder Of Dean Academy, an associ-
alton was formed and one thousand
volumes added to the nucleus formed
by the doctor and the town, so that
at the present time the citizens seem
to be pretty well supplied with read
ing matter The theological draught
prepared for the fathers has been lib
orally and judiciously watered to suit
the palates of their successors, and
we find Mark Twain's "Innoeents
Abroad" Oliver Optics stories, Miss
MulOek's, Mrs. Stoves, Mrs. Whit
ney's and other novels, modern biog-
raphies and tales of travel, Warmers
Summer in a garden" one book by
Darwin, the naturalist, and two more
by Bret Harte, among the thousands
of new accessiOns.
"The old books from the hand Of
Franklin are kept in the library room
in case by themselves, carefully
locked up, and not likely to be fire.
quently called forth, from their quiet
resting place by readers of this gen.
Grafton They are in a good state Of
preservation, considering their age,
which may be owing in part to the
infrequent reading of them, and
doubtless in good part, also, to the
faithful work put into them by the
English binders and publishers, from
whose shops most of them came"
FRUIT IN TIN CANS.-The Boston
Journal of Chemistry says THE
impression prevails among those who