A People s Library. 159 



Let truth and error grapple." This city levies one 

 penny per pound upon the rates, as authorized by the 

 Libraries act. This nets about four thousand dollars per 

 annum. Just see what powerful agencies for the im- 

 provement of the people can be set on foot for a trifling 

 sum. 



And do not fail to note that this library, like all others 

 in Britain organized under the Libraries act, does not 

 pauperize a people. It is no man's library, but the 

 library of the people — their own, maintained and paid 

 for by public taxation to which all contribute. An en- 

 dowed library is just like an endowed church, at best 

 half and generally wholly asleep. It is a great mistake 

 to withdraw from such an institution the healthy breeze 

 of public criticism ; besides this, people never appreciate 

 what is wholly given to them so highly as that to which 

 they themselves contribute. 



Wolverhampton is a go-ahead city (I note a strong 

 Scotch element there). A fine park, recently acquired 

 and laid out M'ith taste, shows that the physical well- 

 being of the people is not lost sight of. The admin- 

 istration of our friend ex-Mayor D. is to be credited 

 with this invaluable acquisition. Mr. D. took the 

 most prominent part in the matter, and having suc- 

 ceeded he can consider the park his own estate. It is 

 not in any sense taken away from him, nor one of its 

 charms lessened, because his fellow-citizens share its 

 blessings. Indeed as I strolled through it with him I 



