Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1875-12-31


PUBIC LIBRARIES AND THEIR UsEs -Chas
Francis Adams, Jr. has written a letter TO the
Quincy Mass. Patriot, on the subject OF the
education derived from the reading Of miscel-
Ianeous books Mr. Adams, who is Que Of
the trustees Of the pablo library of the town,
says that four-6nhs of the book education we
all have is acquired from miscellaneous read
ing. Schools and school teachers have moth
ing to do with it but it is homeacqurcd.
He considers the reading of books, in itself,
the poor mans university. In referring TO
circulating and public libraries and the kind
Of literature n most demand, he says that
''three-fourths of the demand is always for the
most vapid and sensational books. /" In
closing his letter he says: "Most assnredly,
parents ought not 20 turn their chil lren loose
ia any library. Ia our library there is now no
excuse for 50 doing Before the catalogue
was published they might have excused them
selves on the ground that They had no means
of selection; and the catalogue was prepared
with that very consideration in view. 1t was
intended to lay open to any person sitting in
his own house the whole contents Of the libra
ry for bis own use and that Of his family; it
in fact put at the disposal of every resident Of
Quincy an almost complete collection Of the
standard works in the language. for all prac-
tical purposes just as much at bis disposal as
II ne owned iHclu. II put tIc ilpt"IJ Iuto iut
dwelling houses. Under these circumstances,
il was hoped that great Improvement would
he noticed In the character Of the books called
fr. How far This hope has been justified,
cannot now say. but there is certainly yet
great room for improvement. The great ma
iority of the books borrowed are borrowed By
young people, and still, apparently unassislcd
IN their choice by any one. ! am very conf
dent that o competent trustee, who would give
his whole time to the library, and do nothing
but examine and purchase new books. and adj
wise those who come there. especially the
Young, both what to read and how to read it,
could do much more for the higher education
of Quincy than is done through the whole
agency ofour high schools nor in saying this
do / mean to say anything derogatorY to
the high school either. This we can
not expect. We ought, however, 10 be
fairly able 10 expect nov, the parents and
those who engage themselves in the work OF
education should realize what large part in
that work miscellaneous reading plays, and
so Try aud give some direction 10 it,"
THE FUNERAL OF Mr. TnLY The funeral OF
Mr. Charles d. lilly, of Augusta, Ga, who
was killed in a duel last week with Mr..
George T. Ratclfl took place in that city on
Sunday last, in the prcsruce Of the largcsl
congregation ever assembled in st. PanFs
Episcopal Church Rev " II Clarke, d. D.,
the rector, OBLIGATED, and after reading the
burial services delivered an address, in which
he made the following reference to the sad
affair:
'.The law Of the State settles the character
of the occurrence itself, and need not dwell
upon chat This law ought always to be
strictly enforced The uniness OF the code
to settle differences aud redress wrongs has
been clearly set forth in our city papers with