OUR COLUMNS. March 21, 1891. 



A HISTORY OF THE BEDFORD LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE 



AND GENERAL LIBRARY. 



By Thos. Gwyk Elgek, F.R.A.S. 



PART I. 



S no connected account of the origin and gradual development of the various 

 institutions, now amalgamated under this lengthy title, has hitherto been pub- 

 lished, it may be interesting to many readers to have a more or less complete 

 history of each of them, so far as it is to be derived from minute books and other 

 documents among the archives of the Library, commencing with that of a society, 

 dating back nearly two hundred years, the pioneer of all subsequent literary movements 

 in the town, — 



ITS ORIGIN. 



Towards the close of the l7th and in the early years of the 18th century there was 

 a well marked literary movement in many English towns which took definite shape, either 

 in the formation of collections of books for public reading, or in societies for the pro- 

 motion of intellectual culture by means of social meetings devoted to literature, art, and 

 science, for the mutual benefit of those of the clergy and laity who were willing to subscribe 

 money or make donations of volumes, &c. Of this movement the revival of the " Gentle- 

 men's Society at Spalding," founded under the auspices of Maurice Johnson, F.S.A., and 

 other "men of sense and letters," in 1712, is perhaps the most noteworthy and important 

 type, and the old Library of Bedford, established twelve years before, an example on a 

 humbler and less pretentious scale. Some little time previous to the year 1700, certain 

 of the clergy of the town and county, supplemented by a few others beyond those limits, 

 the leading county gentlemen, and some of the principal inhabitants of the borough, 

 appear to have organized a scheme for forming a public library in Bedford, wiach, under 

 conditions about to be specified, should be accessible to all who chose to avail themselves 

 of its benefits. Unfortunately we are ignorant of the names of those with whom the 

 conception of this noble and novel idea originated, or of the individuals who took an 

 active part in bringing it to maturity. It was probably the work of a few public -spirited 

 men, who, affected by the flowing tide of literary culture which set in during the latter 

 part of the reign of William HI., were moved to promise from the abundance of their 

 stores a sufficient number of volumes to form the nucleus of the valuable collection of 

 books which ultimately constituted the first public library in Bedford. 



THE DEED OF SETTLEMENT. 



From an abstract of the Deed of Settlement contained in an old folio volume in the 

 Library, we learn that "the foundation of the library at Bedford was laid in the year 1700, 

 by the contributions of the gentry and clergy." By this deed, the Rev. Edward Bourne. 

 Rector of St. John's in this town, reciting a gift to him upon trust, &c., assigns the several 

 books in an accompanying Schedule to the Lord Bishop of Lincoln and others in trust for 

 the use of him the said Edward Bourne and his successors Rectors of St. John's so long 

 as they will accept the office of Library Keeper and allow the Vestry for the place of the 

 Library, and also for the use of the present and all future contributors and benefactors to 

 the value of 10 shillings for their respective lives. The names of the Trustees, under 



