Manchester was long distinguished among English towns—as it is nov among English cities—by its possession of a library to which access was as free as to any of the libraries of the continent. It was founded in 1653 by the will of Humphrey Chetham, of Manchester, whose family motto was not of a very liberal cut, " Quod tuum tenor' "Keep what is thine." There can hardly be a more striking contrast than that between the low narrow and crowded rooms in the building of Chetham's hospital, where this collection, chiefly of ancient folios, is now, it is true, accessible to the student, but seldom disturbed, and the fine airy lofty rooms, full of modern books in splendid bindings, which house the " Free Library " of Manchester, founded in 1850, within an easy walk of it. The Manchester library was the first esta blished under the Freo Library Act of 1850, which gave power for limited local rates to be levied for the establishment of a free and public library, on the consent obtained of two-thirds of a meeting of the rate-payers. Tho Americans had already anticipated us by a similar law, but the English Libraries Act may be considered as only an extension of the Museums Act of 1845. The early history of the Manchester library is set forth in the reports of Mr. Edward Edwards, its first librarian, whose exertions are understood to have had a con siderable share in promoting and obtaining the Act of Parliament. Free libraries have since been proposed and adopted in many locali ties, and rejected in others—one has been rejected in London, and one has been founded in Oxford, adding to that city of libraries one collection more. At Liverpool a great example of munificence has been set by Mr. Brown, a Liverpool merchant, trading with America. The Free Library, founded in 1852, having grown so rapidly as to require an extension of room, he presented the town with a new and spacious library building at his own expense, of which the estimated cost was 25,000/. A connection has been proposed to be established in some cases between old establishments and the new—such as the Chetham and the Free—and this would certainly be one way of revivifying the old cathedral libraries, of which Mr. Beriah Botfield's volume on that subject has shown that they possess more valuable collections than they have always had credit for.
In Scotland, the largest collection is the Advocates' Library, at Edinburgh, belonging to the Faculty of Advocates, and located close to the Courts of Law, in immediate proximity to, and under the same roof with, the library of the Writers to the Signet. The Advocates' Library formerly occupied the identical room now occupied by that of the Writers, and some passages of law have, it is understood, taken place between the two branches of the profession respecting their rights to light, which is so deficient, that in some underground rooms of the Advocates' Library candles are used at noon-day. The present Signet library is a palatial room, which reminds the visitor by its appearance of the libraries of the London clubs. The Advocates and the Signet libraries together—the former about 180,000 volumes, and the latter about 50,000—amount to nearly a quarter of a million volumes, and if an arrangement had been come to similar to that between the Bodleian and Radcliffe libraries, Edinburgh might have reaped a material benefit. The Advocates' library contains a large Spanish collection, formerly belonging to the Marquis of Aetorga, and acquired in a mass from Mr. Thorpe, the London bookseller, hut found, after purchase, to be much less choice than was expected. It has also a collection of works relating to the Scandinavian nations, bought like a similar one in the British Museum of Professor Thorkelin, and a mass of 100,000 foreign dissertations bought at the recommendation of Sir William Hamilton for 80/. Though both the Advocates and the
Signet library are rich in law, yet neither is by any means exclusively a professional library, and neither is pre-eminently Scottish, though of course, Scottish publications predominate more than elsewhere. The library of the University of Edinburgh occupies the finest room in Scotland and one of the finest in Great Britain. The collection has upwards of 100,000 volumes, but is said to be very deficient in some branches of learning. The leading collections in provincial Scotland are those of the universities— Glasgow, St. Andrews, and Aberdeen. They were long an object of odium to English booksellers, on account of the privilege that had been somewhat liberally granted to them of demanding a copy of every book published. This right was exercised in very unequal degrees, for when it was abolished in 1835, and com pensation granted in proportion to the actual loss sustained, Aberdeen was ordered to receive only 320/. a-year from the Consolidated Fund, while Glasgow was rewarded for its diligence with 707/. Glasgow, in addition to its fine university library, has that of the Hunterian Museum, founded by Dr. Hunter, of London.
There is probably no more singular origin of a library on record than that of Trinity College library in Dublin. The English army, which had defeated some Irish insurgents and their Spanish allies at the battle of Kinsale, on Christmas Eve, 1601, resolved to " do some worthy act that might be a memorial of the due respect they had for true religion and learning." For this purpose, the soldiers raised among themselves 1800/. to furnish a library for the University of Dublin, then recently founded. Their agents coming to London for that purpose, found Sir Thomas Bodley engaged in making pur chases for his intended library at Oxford, and conferred with him on the choice of books. In 1656, the death of Archbishop Ussher brought his valuable library into the market, and again "the soldiers and officers of the then army in Ireland, out of emulation to the former noble action of Queen Elizabeth's army, were incited by some men of public spirit to the like performance," and the archbishop's library was bought by the army and presented to Trinity College, with the sanction of Oliver Cromwell. The most important addition ever made to it at one time, was that of the Fagel collection, formed by several generations of the Fagel family in Holland, and amounting to nearly 18,000 volumes, which were acquired for 10,000/. Some valuable books were bequeathed by a Mr. Quin, but under such onerous conditions that Mr. Panizzi, who had to cross the sea for the purpose of examining an Ariosto of the collection for his edition of the ' Orlando,' complains loudly of the illiberal restrictions by which the donor had rendered it impossible to receive his benefits with unmixed feelings of gratitude. The Trinity College collection was counted in 1848, and found then to contain 101,962 volumes of printed books, and 1512 of manuscripts. Marsh's library, of about 5000 volumes, founded at Dublin in 1707, by Archbishop Narcissus Marsh, vele) died In 1713, is said to be the meet easily accessible of any is Ireland. but the applicant for admission Is required to produce a Towhee of his reepeetaualuty. An Act of Parliament was passel in 155i authorising its launder -to a new building to be erected in Dublin as a National Gallery and Museum. The libraries of the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Dubliu Society, and the King's lens, or Inn. of Court, are the most 'imminent remaining collections of the Irish capital. The library of St. Patrick's College, 3laynooth, is rising into importance, and those of the new Queen's Colleges in various parte of Ireland will in wino eases form now literary centres of extensive districts.