testator, from time to time as they happen, with such precision by giving a number to each descendant, and giving the numbers of the parents as well as the names, that there may be no room left for mistake of the whole descent of each (which by the similarity of names there would be without numbers). . . . . And it is agreed that this present indenture, after it is recorded and entered in the said folio book, and all other writings herein recited or mentioned, shall be carefully kept in a box or drawer in the said library, under two locks, whereof the key of one to be kept by the librarian, and the key of the other lock by the senior trustee, or such other of them as the majority of them may direct."

In 1792, at the instance of James Logan, the son, the only surviving trustee, the Legislature of Pennsylvania passed an act vesting the property of the Loganian Library in the Library Company of Philadelphia, subject to the conditions in the original deed of trust. In accordance with one of the provisions in that instrument, an accurate record of the founder's descendants continues to be kept in the "folio-bound book"; and the trustees published in the last supplement to the catalogue a "Genealogical Table, showing the names of persons entitled (under the founder's last will) to the office of hereditary librarian of the Loganian Library; and also (under the act of Assembly) to the position of hereditary trustee, with the right of appointing two others."

The librarians, from 1760 to 1792, were William Logan, and James Logan, 2d. Since then Zachariah Poulson, George Campbell, John Jay Smith, and Lloyd P. Smith have held the office. Their terms of service were respectively six years, sixteen years, fourteen years, twenty-three years, twenty-two years, seventeen years. George Campbell, whose term of service was within two years of a quarter of a century, was never, during that long period, even once, prevented by sickness from attending to his daily duties. The present libra

rian, and his father and predecessor, John Jay Smith, are descendants of John Smith, an eminent merchant of Philadelphia, who married the daughter of James Logan; hence their hereditary right to be custodians of the collection founded by their ancestor.

The original Loganian Library building, figured on the title-page of the new supplementary catalogue, stood near the corner of Sixth and Walnut streets,

the whole square of ground between Sixth and Seventh and Walnut streets belonging to Logan. We have heard one of his descendants say that his father sold a great slice of it, on Chestnut and Seventh streets, for a box of Irish linens to go to housekeeping with. The square, now worth millions, was originally sold because the rents did not pay the taxes. It is the old story of the proprietary Penns, always in want of money, and selling whole baronies for a song. This library building had a cosey back yard, easily accessible by climbing a board fence; and there all the school-boy battles were fought by the young Quakers of the notdistant classical academy of Proud, the historian of Pennsylvania.

At present the Loganian collection embraces between ten and eleven thousand volumes, many of them very rare; some, in fact, unique.

As we have seen, the Philadelphia Library furnishes scores of instances illustrating the truth of an idea which is every day becoming more apparent, namely, that a republican form of government is far more conducive to the healthy growth and development, not of individuals merely, but of families, than the carefully digested rules of a monarchy. In England, for example, some one man may win for himself unlimited fame, and a peerage. The latter will halo his family, throughout each succeeding generation, as long as the race exists. No matter whether his descendants are good, bad, or indifferent, the laws of the land will sustain them in the high position originally acquired by creditable deeds. In America, on the contrary, where the spirit of our insti

tutions is in direct opposition to the preservation of influence when original excellence has departed, there is every incentive to personal exertion; and hence our country contains, in proportion to its age, a larger number of family names than any other can boast which have been honored in their several generations for characteristic virtues.

Philadelphia and its vicinity, perhaps, has more persons than any other American community who hold the same comfortable position to-day which their ancestors originally occupied. This is true not merely of the professional and wealthy classes: it applies no less strongly to mechanics and artisans. One finds families in which a certain trade has been handed down for half a dozen generations.

The city, indeed, has a stability of character in some respects peculiar to itself. The architecture partakes of the characteristics which were its distinguishing features from its very infancy. An air of genteel antiquity envelops the town and its inhabitants. A stran ger almost instinctively falls into the oiled grooves of a preservative civilization, and lays aside the corroding cares which afflict the more changeable citizens of New York. It sometimes requires a little while for the adjustment, as the following anecdote will show. On one occasion a gentleman from New York called in a great hurry at a certain bank in Philadelphia, about midday. Finding it closed he went away, supposing that the building was undergoing repairs. Happening, however, to pass it again the same afternoon, he noticed, to his astonishment, that the doors were open. On entering he expressed his surprise that a bank should be closed between twelve and two in the day; and said, moreover, that it had caused him some inconvenience.

"You should have known better, sir," was the reply; "for such has been our daily custom for more than a hundred years."

I have lying before me a volume entitled "The Charter, Laws, and Cata

logue of Books of the Library Company of Philadelphia. Communiter bona profundere Deûm est. Philadelphia: Printed by B. Franklin, and D. Hall. MDCCLVII." Its pages are very suggestive, but I have only time to note that the name of the donor of each volume is annexed to the title in the catalogue. James Logan's gifts are numerous. Hesselius, the painter, whose portraits are to be found among the old families of Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia, appears most appropriately in the list as the giver of a folio entitled "Historia Insignium Illustrium, seu Operis Heraldici Pars Specialis, &c. Authore Philippo Jacobo Spenero. Francofurti ad Monum, 1680."

I have gleaned from the original minutes, and from other sources, some interesting particulars of the history of the library from this period.* In 1752 "a noble present of antient medals" was received through Mr. Peters from Mr. Grey, member of Parliament from Colchester. In 1763 the celebrated John Dickinson, author of the "Farmer's Letters," was elected a member of the board of trustees. In 1769 the Union Library Company was united to the Philadelphia Library Company; and in 1771 another junction was formed with the Association Library. In 1773 the books were removed to Carpenter's Hall; and the next year, when Congress met there, the librarian was directed to furnish the members with such books as they might desire. Two unsuccessful efforts were made in May and June, 1776, to convene the members to authorize the directors "to remove the books out of town should the British army approach it." It does not appear, however, that the company sustained any loss from those composing that force. On the contrary, it is a pleasure to be able to say that the English officers, without exception, left

* I desire to acknowledge my obligations to Mr. Lloyd P. Smith, the present accomplished librarian, and to his father, John Jay Smith, Esq., the well-known author of several valuable works, for access to original sources of information, as well as for many acts of personal courtesy.

deposits and paid hire for the books borrowed by them. As we shall presently discover, the Library Company, in their turn, were enabled, nearly a century later, to perform an act of generosity to the British government, which has laid the English nation under lasting obligations.

In 1777 the library room was occupied by sick soldiery. By the will of the Hon. William Logan, the library received the same year a very handsome bequest of books of ancient authors.

At a general meeting held June 1, 1789, over which Bishop White presided, it was determined to erect a suitable building, as soon as one hundred new members could be procured.

The list having been completed, the corner-stone of the present edifice, now standing on Fifth and Library Streets, was laid with appropriate ceremonies. By the 30th of December, 1790, the books were all removed to their new home.

In 1791 the directors again tendered to the President and Congress the free use of the books in the library; and General Washington, through his Secretary, Tobias Lear, returned thanks for the attention in a very handsome note. In 1792 an additional building, immediately in the rear, was erected by the Philadelphia Library Company for the accommodation of the Loganian collection.

Dr. Franklin, who, as we have seen, was one of the principal founders of the Philadelphia Library, acted as the company's agent in London from 1761 to 1775- His last letter thence to the directors is dated "London, February 5th, 1775." The inscription on the corner-stone of the present building declares that the library was instituted

at the instance of Benjamin Franklin." When William Bingham, the maternal grandfather of Lord Ashburton, heard of the intention of the directors to erect a statue of Dr. Franklin, in recognition of his eminent services, he immediately volunteered to furnish it at his own expense. A bust

was accordingly procured from the Pennsylvania Hospital, and transmitted to Italy with a drawing of the figure. The statue in due time arrived, and was placed in the niche in front of the building, where it still stands. The likeness was considered an excellent one by the contemporaries of this eminent man. It gives perhaps the most perfect idea of the general appearance and bearing of the philosopher and statesman, · as Houdon's statue of Washington is the most accurate presentment of the Father of his Country.

No account of the Philadelphia Library would be complete without some reference to the treasures it contains.

The total number of volumes is about eighty-one thousand. In this enumeration, each volume of pamphlets is counted as one book only. If the system pursued in some famous collections was resorted to, the figures would have to be largely increased. Of early printed books, the following deserve especial notice: Augustinus de Vita Christiana, printed in 1459, by Fust and Schoyffer, the inventors of printing; two works from the press of Pynson, and three from that of Wynkyn de Worde; a copy of Caxton's "Golden Legend"; a Vulgate Bible, only two hundred copies of which were printed at Rome by Sweynheym and Pannartz, in 1471, pronounced "fort rare" by Brunet, — another from the press of Koburger, at Nuremberg, in 1475; an English version printed by Grafton, in 1539; and a Nouveau Testament, printed by Barthélemy and Buyer, at Lyons, about 1480; a noble edition of Perceforest, -"de tous les romans de chevalerie le plus estimé," -in six volumes, folio, Paris, 1531; an early German version, with numerous woodcuts, of Reynard the Fox,- Reynke Voss de olde, Rostock, 1549, — and Copland's edition of Caxton's Recueill of the Histories of Troye, London, 1553.

Most of these early printed works are from the private collection of William Mackenzie, Esq., of Philadelphia, who died in 1829, and bequeathed to

the library all his books printed before 1800. Among them I omitted to mention until now the one most interesting to bibliomaniacs, namely, a glorious copy on vellum of the first Italian translation of Pliny's "Natural History." This exquisitely printed folio, "emphatically the glory of Janson's press," cette édition magnifique, as Brunet calls it, would be valuable enough if printed on paper; but it appears to be the one copy which Janson struck off on vellum. Brunet says: "Un exemplaire imprimé sur VÉLIN, avec les lettres initiales peintes offert à 900 fr. MacCarthy." Mackenzie undoubtedly bought it at a sale of MacCarthy's books, as he was a collector at that time.

A "Siamese Treatise on the SmallPox," and a "Chinese and Japanese Dictionary," are worthy of notice in passing.

Of works relating to antiquities, we remember Lepsius's, Rosselini's, Denon's, and Vyse's Egypt; Botta's and Layard's folio plates of Nineveh; Kingsborough's Mexico; eight folio volumes of plates on Herculaneum; Piranesi's works; Il Vaticano; Meyrick on Ancient Armor; Dugdale's Monasticon; and Le Roux de Lincy's Hôtel de Ville de Paris.

In the department of Belles-Lettres and History, the collection of French, Spanish, and Italian books embraces most of the standard authors. The edition of the French classics, in thirtytwo large quarto volumes, entitled Collection du Dauphin, a beautiful specimen of typography, — and Landino's rare et recherché edition of Dante, Venice, 1512, may be mentioned in this connection. The German library is not so full, but it embraces many valuable works. The collection of Spanish authors is the most complete, and perhaps the finest, of any public library in this country. Among the choice volumes are, El Conde Lucanor, by the Prince Don Juan Manuel (Sevilla, 1575), described by Ticknor as "one of the rarest books in the world"; an unmutilated edition of

Celestina, the first Spanish dramatic work of note (1599); the Chronicle of the Cid (Burgos, 1593), and the Chronicle of King Alfonso (1604). It contains also the excellent reprint of the ancient "Spanish Chronicles" (1787), and Zurita's Anales de la Corona de Aragon, with the supplement of Argensola. Not to mention the better-known names of Calderon, Lope de Vega, and the other early dramatists, it may be said that all the modern authors of consequence, and many others of less note, have been added to it. The Spanish writers on America are equally well represented.

In the large collection of English works may be found a complete set of the " the "English County Histories"; of the "Royal Society's Transactions"; the "Gentleman's Magazine," commenced in 1731, the same year the library was founded; the "Annual Register"; the several series of the “Parliamentary Debates"; and other periodicals, some of them continued for more than a century; also, the voluminous publications of the Record Commission, — a remarkable collection of seven hundred English pamphlets, in thirty-six volumes, quarto, published during the Revolutionary period from 1620 to 1720, which, with "Somers's Tracts," the "Harleian Miscellany," and the publications of the various learned societies, eminently deserve the attention of the student.

In the department of works relating to America the library may, without the least exaggeration, be said to be very rich. In fact, no writer of the history of our own country should consider his investigations complete until he has consulted the rare sources of information within these walls.

The sets of newspapers, from the first number of the first paper published in Philadelphia, continuously to the present time, include a set of Bradford's "American Mercury," from 1719 to 1745; the "Pennsylvania Gazette" (published successively by Samuel Keimer, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, and Hall and Sellers), complete from 1728 to 1804; the "Pennsylvania Journal," from

1747 to 1793; the "Pennsylvania Packet" (afterwards "Poulson's Advertiser"), under various names, from 1771 to the present time; the "Federal " and "Philadelphia Gazette" from 1788 to 1843; and the "United States Gazette," now the "North American," from 1791 to the present time. These are a few of the many catalogued.

After the newspapers may be mentioned the inestimable collection of books, pamphlets, broadsides, and manuscripts collected by Pierre du Simitiere, before, during, and after the Revolution, and purchased for the company. A portion of these pamphlets, and the larger part of the broadsides, are believed to be unique. With these may be classed the four hundred volumes, besides many unarranged scraps, and numerous water-color and india-ink pictures, recently left to the library by the late Charles A. Poulson. The Beschreibung von Pennsylvania, Frankfurt und Leipzig, 1704, by Pastorius, the personal friend of William Penn, and the founder of Germantown, is believed to be the only copy in the United States; with it is bound up a German translation of Gabriel Thomas's Pennsylvania, and Faulkner's Curieuse Nachricht von Pennsylvania, 1702. H. J. Winckelmann's Der Americanischen neuen Welt Beschreibung, Oldenburg, 1664, with woodcuts, is a most curious and extremely rare publication. Other German works on America, not often met with in this country, are Gottfriedt's Historia Antipodum, Frankfurt, 1655, and Dapper's Unbekannte Neue Welt, Amsterdam, 1673; both have numerous fine plates and maps. Campanius's Kort Beskrifning om Provincien Nya Swerige uti America, som nu förtjden af the Engelske kallas Pennsylvania, Stockholm, 1702, with curious plates and maps, is one of the few copies known to exist. The esteem in which it is held as a scarce work may be estimated by the fact that not long since the Prime Minister of Sweden, Count Manderström, sent a copy to the Historical Society of Delaware, with a letter referring to its extreme rarity.

Ovalle's Histórica Relacion del Reyno de Chile, with the map and all the plates, is also very choice.

"Jones's Present State of Virginia," London, 1724, is bound up with "The Present State of Virginia and the College, by Messieurs Hartwell, Blair, and Chilton," London, 1727.

Plantagenet's "New Albion," "Leah and Rachel," and other scarce books, were reprinted in Force's Historical Tracts, from copies in the Philadelphia Library.

There is also to be seen a very curious volume of "Publications of the Enemy in Philadelphia in 1777 and 1778."

The library possesses two copies of Aitken's Bible, of 1782, published under the patronage of Congress, and "Poor Richard's Almanac" from 1733 to 1747, both very rare. There are in it also two copies of the Rev. John Eliot's Indian Bible. A single copy of this work was sold at the "Allan sale" in New York for $825. Two copies of Smith's "Virginia," folio, "Hakluyt's Voyages," and "De Bry's America," must not be forgotten.

Of manuscripts, the most ancient is an exemplar of the entire Bible, on parchment, of the date of 1016(?). The most beautiful is an illuminated Psalter on fine vellum, and in perfect preservation; it appears to be a speci men of German art of the early part of the fifteenth century. Henry's manuscript Indian Dictionary, and an unpublished autobiography of John Fitch, are interesting.

It is nearly seventy years since the grandson of a former Lord High Chancellor of Ireland, whose romantic story was charmingly told in a recent number of the Atlantic, under the title of "The Strange Friend," sent as a gift to the Philadelphia Library Company, when on the eve of his departure from America, a large number of manuscripts relating to Irish state affairs, together with some books of less importance. On the flight of James II. to France, these papers had been committed to the custody of his Chancellor. The