142 A HALF CENTURY. 



the young business men's class, labored to build it up, and to interest 

 the men of this church in the careful study of the word of God ; and 

 this in addition to his exhausting work as our minister. The church 

 can never duly estimate their obligation to our pastor for all this, nor 

 for the valuable aid which in past years he has given to the teachers in 

 the evening class. 



How would those teachers of twenty-five, forty, and fifty years ago 

 think of the school of to-day? They would see a corps of teachers as 

 large as the ordinary Sunday-school of those days, with aids to bibli- 

 cal study such as they * never dreamed of ; a school about equal in 

 size to the entire population of New Britain when the school was or- 

 ganized. Those early teachers would see here the fruits of their 

 planting. Would they have any words, had they the privilege of ad- 

 dressing us to-day, respecting self-denial or generous self-sacrifice? 

 No! No! They would only speak of the privilege and the joy of 

 Christian service. It is our privilege, fellow teachers, to enter into 

 their joy. 



OUR SUNDAY-SCHOOL LIBRARY. 

 Miss Alice C. Tuck, of the Library Committee. 



The history of our Sunday school would indeed be incomplete with- 

 out reference to the library which has been a strong factor in its work- 

 ing force ever since the organization of the school. 



One of the first expenditures of the church was for a few Sunday- 

 school books. From the beginning great care has been exercised in 

 the selection of appropriate and worthy books. They have been sifted 

 again and again, their number has been as often increased, and the 

 school has been kept closely in touch with the best Sunday-school 

 literature. 



As early as 1844 it was voted that the officers of the school be a com- 

 tee to reject from the library such books as they judged "unfit for 

 use," and to make suitable addition. 



In 1846 a committee was appointed consisting of Mr. Rockwell, 

 Prof. E. A. Andrews, Horatio Waldo, and O. B. Bassett, to examine 

 the library and see what new books were needed, and, for they were 

 a progressive people — whether some of a " higher order" might not 

 be useful. It is of interest now to note the wide range of their selec- 

 tion, including as they did in the six hundred volumes, histories by 

 Macaulay, Prescott, and Abbott, many of Irving's writings, the " let- 

 ters " of Abigail Adams, several of Carlyle's works, a fine edition of the 

 "Spectator," and Webster's speeches in three volumes. After this 

 part of the library had filled an important place in the parish for 

 some years, it was thought best to place it in the New Britain Institute, 



