12 



OUR COLUMNS. 



March 21, 1891. 



Tavistock. A copy of this address, an e:ffusion consisting of 486 lines of blank verse, by- 

 Mr. Warneford, clerk to Mr. Times, an attorney of Bedford, is in the Library. Addressing 

 the Marquis, he writes : — 



" Roused by thy magic voice, the old and young 



So late that bent beneath the leaden arm 



Of Ignorance and Pride, amazed shall feel 



The milder influence of celestial charms ; 



And in the mutual interchange of thought 



And social joys, be tempted to pursue 



The hidden source of bliss unfelt before : 



Then should'st thou, unsolicited, extend 



The bountiful donation, and thy name 



Conspicuous shine upon a swelling list 



Of learning's friends, by thine example fired ; 



A New Society will rise to view 



(Formed like a small Republic) such as used 



In times of antient liberty to draw 



The elder Cato to their rich delights." 



This was written in 1817, but no active movement or "bountiful donation" resulted 

 either from the sober prose of Mr. Fisher or the eloquent verse of the author of the above 

 towards the establishment of a liiterary Society in the tow^n, and the old Library remained 

 in the same quarters imder the same conditions. 



THE THIED AND FOURTH REMOVALS. 



Though no public notice was taken of the two letters in the Gentleman'' s Magazine for 

 1817, — a letter was addressed to the Bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Tomline, dated May 19, 1818, 

 by someone signing himself " J.B.," calling his Lordship's attention to the Library and 

 giving a brief resume of its history. The writer was evidently as desirous as Mr. Fisher 

 himself to devise some means for making it more widely known and useful to the public, 

 but, as will be seen in the sequel, nothing was done to carry out this desirable object till 

 the year 1831, when the books, which, since Mr. Hemsted's death had been under the care 

 of his successor, the Rev. James Donne, were for a second time moved to the south side 

 of the river — to rooms in High Street, St. Mary's, occupied by the Bedford General 

 Library, which was inaugurated the previous year. Here they remained till 1836, when, as 

 forming part of this establishment, they were finally placed in the present building. In 

 the Catalogue annexed to the Deed of Assignment, there are enumerated 784 volumes, 

 folios, quartos, &c., and 38 volumes of tracts, in all 822. In a subsequent catalogue, in the 

 old folio so often referred to, made in December 1807, there are 703 volumes in all, 

 showing a diminution of 119, without taking into account additions which were assuredly 

 made during the interval of a hundred years and more which elapsed between the two 

 lists. According to Our Library Catalogue, published in 1878, the number of volumes is 

 about 716, but probably some old books not belonging to the Old Bedford Library have 

 been inadvertently added to them. We trust, ere long, to give a brief account of the 

 more rare and noteworthy books in this choice and valuable collection. 



In the preparation of this notice of the Old Bedford Library, I am indebted to the Rev. L. Woodard, 

 the Vicar, and Mr. Cuthbert, one of the Churchwardens of St. Paul's, for allowing me to inspect the 

 original deed and other documents relating to it ; to the Rev. W. 0. Parker Ford, Rector of St. John's, 

 for information respecting the Rev. Edward Bourne, the first Library-keeper ; and to J. P. Piper, E^q., 

 Town Clerk, for affording me particulars from the minute books of the Corporation of Bedford relating 

 to the lease granted in 1708 to the Rev. Thos. Franks, Archdeacon of Bedford, and others, of the ground, 

 on which the building, where the Library was kept for 40 years, was erected. 



