6 TkANSACTiONS. 1897-8. 



committee was formed, which shortly afterwards issued a pro- 

 spectus in which is found : — " It is a matter within the know- 

 ledge of all and it is deeply to be regretted, that, although 

 Bytown contains a population of 8,000 souls and is one of the 

 most wealthy and flourishing commercial towns of the Province 

 with respect to its facilities for diffusing useful information, it 

 is far behind most other places of equal note in the country. 

 While all other large towns of Canada, and even many of the 

 small villages in the new settlements, can boast each of its 

 Debating Club, Circulating Library or Mechanics' Institute, 

 no Association of an intellectual character, not even a Read- 

 ing Room exists in a place that will in all probability, within 

 a very short period, be elevated to the dignity of a city. This 

 deficiency, while it deprives the adult members of the com- 

 munity of all those pure mental enjoyments that flow from 

 the cultivation of the mind, either by reading, or by listening 

 to discourses on literature, science or art, is when viewed with 

 reference to its influence upon the youth of the town produc- 

 tive of consequences of a much more painful and destructive 



nature. As there is no public library 



from which well selected booL's upon different branches of 

 science can be procured, and as no provision whatsoever has 

 been made for the delivery of instructive lectures, it is diffi- 

 cult to perceive how a young man can obtain knowledge in 

 this town, either by reading for himself, or by having it im- 

 parted to him by others Between the time 



of leaving the Common School and that period of life, when 

 the full age of discretion is arrived at, there are from five to 

 ten years during which the character of the future man is 

 formed, and during which the greater portion of the know- 

 ledge that is to serve him through life is to be acquired. If 

 a store of general information is not laid up in this period the 

 individual must pass through existence without it. When 

 the cares of business and the struggle for subsistence com- 

 mence, the time for education is past, and he who has not 

 obtained it before, will most likely never possess it. 



In this prospectus, which commands our admiration, an 

 appeal was made to the citizens for subscriptions and as a re- 

 sult ^130 7s. 6d. were collected, thereby founding the By- 

 town Mechanics' Institute and Athenaeum on January 29th, 

 1853, of which the present Ottawa Literary and Scientific 

 Society is a direct descendent. 



Towards the Institute the Government made a grant of 



