gating Christian and Useful Knowledge"* in the northeast corner of Connecticut: John Chandler, Esq., twenty pounds. John Hallowell, physician, sixteen pounds. Samuel Perrin, fifteen pounds. Samuel Sumner, ten pounds. Benjamin Griffin, twenty pounds. John Payson, ten pounds. Samuel Dana, ten pounds. Books to the value of £418 128. were ordered from London by Rev. Mr. Williams. Among the books belonging to the library, we noticed, Jacobs' Law Dictionary, Chambers' Dictionary, Rapin's History of England, Burnet's History of his own Times, Calmet's Dictionary of the Bible, Bentley's Sermons, Locke on Government and Education, Quarles' Emblems, Prideaux's Connections, Watts' Logic, Astronomy, and other publications. In 1745, it was found necessary, on account of the distance of the members from a common centre, to resolve into two organizations. After the death of Colonel Chandler, a separation was deemed advisable. At a meeting of the "United Company for Propagating Useful and Christian Knowledge in Pomfret, Woodstock, &c., met at the Rev. Mr. Williams', June 7, 1745": "Voted, That the society do agree to divide ye books into two parts, viz., one part to Pomfret and Mortlake, and the other to Woodstock and Killingly, according to the interest that the respective proprietors in said towns have therein, and to hold their property according to the abovesaid division, any vote to the contrary notwithstanding." Thirty-nine volumes were then assigned to Woodstock and Killingly, and the remainder allowed to Pomfret and Mortlake. The residents of the latter *The name was doubtless suggested by the London Society for the Propagating Christian and Useful Knowledge. towns at once renewed the covenant, obliging themselves to keep that part together which belonged to the towns in which they lived as a United Library, and to remain under the same regulations and restrictions in general as the former company, with these additional conditions: "1. That the said Library shall be governed by votes, according to ye interest which the several persons or members have therein. 2. That no member be allowed to d spose of his right out of said towns at all; nor in said towns, but with the consent of the majority of ye proprietors. 儡 3. That each proprietor have liberty to dispose of his right upon his decease, to any one of his heirs living in said towns. 4. That no member be admitted out of said towns. 5. That, inasmuch as the Library is diminished by ye division, the several proprietors shall take out books in proportion to their subscription, or else all shall be obliged to come up to what a twenty pound subscription paid; which addition shall be expended for purchasing more books-and that the Rev. Mr. Williams, Mr. Avery, and Deacon Holbrook be a committee to lay out the money that shall be paid for this end in such books as they shall see fit. 6. That a twenty pound right shall take out two books at a time, though but one of them a folio. 7. That an octavo shall be returned in two months, a quarto. in three months, and a folio in four mouths. 8. That if any book be abused in the hands of any one of said company, he shall be obliged to make it good. 9. That that article in the covenant which speaks of three of ye same tenor being necessary to be kept, be revoked; one being kept by the scribe and recorded, being sufficient. 10. That Eph. Avery be scribe of said company till otherwise ordered; and shall call meetings on occasion agreeable to ye covenant. 11. That the comm ttee before mentioned shall have power to admit new members in the room of any old ones or such as were never members before, as they shall think fit; i. e., within the towns aforesaid; but no new member shall be admitted without paying equal to what a twenty pound subscription paid. 12. That Mr. Samuel Sumner be keeper of said Library till the company shall agree otherwise-and that Mr. Williams accordingly deliver him the books, together with ye case made to keep yш in." "The United Society or Company for Propagating Christian and Useful Knowledge in the towns of Pomfret and Mortlake," now numbered twentyone members. Ebenezer Grosvenor, Nathaniel Holmes, Nathaniel Sessions, and Joseph Holland had been previously admitted. Ephraim Hide now resigned his right to Abiel Lyon. The usefulness and popularity of the Library were greatly augmented by its restriction to more convenient limits. New books were from time to time added, less theological and polemic in character, and many residents of Pomfret gladly availed themselves of its privileges. The affairs of the Company were well managed by a faithful and efficient committee, and its membership in time embraced all the leading men of the township. Pomfret's Library became one of her most cherished institutions, and maintained and extended her reputation for intelligence and culture. Just one hundred years after the establishment of the "United English Library," the editor of this Journal visited the towns of Woodstock and Pomfret, and had the satisfaction of handling several of these old volumes, which bore evidence of much, and yet careful, usage. It was still more satisfactory to recall at their ancestral hearth-stones the names of individuals in different States eminent for professional and public service, the germs of whose influence could be traced back to the early schools and libraries of Pomfret and Woodstock-the Chandlers, Dwights, Hydes, McClellans, Putnams, Larneds, Notts, Sumners, &c. Common School Libraries. The earliest library connected with a Common School in Connecticut, selected in reference to teachers and pupils, as well as the graduates of the school, was founded by Henry Barnard; and the first legislation on the subject in this State was suggested in his Report as Secretary of the Commissioners of Common Schools in 1839: There are but six school libraries in the State. These, with two exceptions, are the contributions of public-spirited fr.ends of schools. The testimony of teachers and committees in favor of their happy influence is uniform in the districts where they have been introduced. Who can estimate the healthful stimulus which would be communicated to the youthful mind of the Statethe discoveries which genius would make of its own wondrous powers-the vicious habits reclaimed or guarded against-the light which would be thrown over the various pursuits of society-the blessings and advantages which would be carried to the firesides and the workshops, the business and the bosoms of men, by the establishment of well-selected libraries, adapted not only to the older children in school, but to adults of both sexes, and embracing works on agriculture, manufactures, and the various employments of life. In an act concerning schools passed by the Legislature in 1839, in pursuance of the suggestions of the above Report, and drawn up by Mr. Barnard, there is the following provisions respecting libraries : Any school district, in lawful meeting warned for this purpose, is hereby authorized to lay a tax, not exceeding thirty dollars the first year, or ten dollars any subsequent year, on the district for the purpose of establishing and maintaining a Common School Library and apparatus for the use of the children of such district, under such rules and regulations as said district may adopt; and any sum of money thus raised, shall be assessed and collected in the same manner as other district taxes. In his Report for 1841, Mr Barnard recurs to the subject, in connection with the District Library System of New York: "The returns of school visitors show that but few libraries have been established during the past year in the several school districts of the state, and that the whole number in existence does not exceed twenty. These are all the donations of individuals. "In the state of New York, during the same period, $106,000 were appropriated, and $94,998.58 actually expended in the purchase of libraries for every one of her ten thousand school districts. One half of the money was derived from public funds, and the other half was raised by direct tax. The whole number of books in all the district libraries at the close of 1840 was 422,459. At the close of 1843, $530,000 will have been expended in the purchase of more than two millions of volumes, accessible to every family and every individual. "Although an injudicious choice of books,' says Governor Seward, in his late annual message, 'is sometimes made, these 1 braries generally include history and biography, voyages and travels, works on natural history and the physical sciences, treatises upon agriculture, commerce, manufactures and the arts, and judicious selections from modern literature. Henceforth, no citizen who shall have improved the advantages offered by our common schools, and the District Libraries, will be without some scientific knowledge of the earth, its physical condition and phenomena, the animals that inhabit it, the vegetables that clothe it with verdure, and the minerals under its surface, the physiology, and the intellectual powers of man, the laws of mechanics and their practical uses, those of chemistry and their application to the arts, the principles of moral and political economy, the history of nations, and especially that of our own country, the progress and triumph of the democratic principle in the governments on this continent, and the prospects of its ascendency throughout the world, the trials and faith, valor and constancy of our ancestors, with the inspiring examples of benevolence, virtue and patriotism exhibited in the lives of the benefactors of mankind. The fruits of this enlightened and beneficent enterprise are chiefly to be gathered *Mr. Barnard's way of getting up libraries was to offer to give a certain n mber of books for this purpose to any district that would build a schoo house after a plan which he should approve. by our successors, But the present generation will not be altogether unrewarded. Although many of our citizens may pass the District Library, heedless of the treasure it contains, the unpretending volumes will find their way to the firesides, diffusing knowledge, increasing domestic happiness, and promoting public virtue.' "It is impossible,' remarks the Superintendent of Common Schools, in his last annual report, 'to contemplate the fruits already realized from this part of our system of public instruction, without the highest gratification. The circulation of half a million of valuable books among our follow citizens, without charge and without price, is a greater benefaction to our race than would be the collection in any one place of ten times the number of volumes. And when we reflect that in five years there will be two millions of such books in free and constant circulation among those who most need them, and who are most unable to procure them, whose minds will thus be diverted from frivolous and injurious occupations, and employed upon the productions of the learned and wise of all ages, we find ourselves unable to measure the mighty influences that will operate upon the moral and intellectual character of our state. "No philanthropist, no friend of his country and her glorious institutions, can contemplate these results, and the incalculable consequences they must produce upon a population of nearly three millions of souls, without blessing a kind Providence for casting our lot where the cultivation and improvement of the human mind are so eminently the objects of legislative care, or without feeling that every citizen in his station is bound to forward the great work, until we are as intelligent as we are free.' It is impossible to add anything to the force of the above example or remarks, or to soften the humiliating contrast presented in the simple statement of the facts as they exist in the two states. It is to be hoped, however, that Connecticut, with a population much more compact and homogeneous, anl with avails of public funds set apart for the education of every child, more than four times as great as is similarly provided in New York, will hold out some inducements for school societies or districts to provide themselves with libraries of well-selected books for the older children and teachers of the school, and for the inhabitants generally. If $12,000, or twice that amount, of the undivided income of the school fund for the past year could be set apart as 'library money,' to be drawn by school societies or districts, as the public money is now drawn, on condition that a like amount be raised by tax, or individual subscription, and both sums expended by the school visitors in the purchase of suitable books, it would give an impulse to the schools, and diffuse a permanent interest and intelligence through the community, which a much larger sum, expended as at present, can never accomplish. "Should any appropriation be made, it is worthy of consideration whether it would not be better to have the whole sum expended in the purchase of a society library, and the books placed in as many cases as there are districts, each to pass in succession through them all, instead of buying as many distinct libraries as there are districts. By the latter course there will, almost of necessity, be many books of the same kind in the different districts, the range of selection in each district will be limited, and the interest of novelty be soon lost. By the former, each district will at any one time have access to as many books as under the other plan, and, in the end, to all the books in the several districts; and the interest of the readers will be kept fresh by a constant supply of new authors. By local regulations, the cases could be returned to the librarian of the society every six months for inspection, as well as exchange, and thus the books be more likely to be preserved, and any damage or loss assessed to the proper district." Barnard's Report for 1841. Mr. Barnard recurs to the subject in his Report for 1842: "Some assistance has also been rendered to districts in purchasing and procuring libraries and apparatus. More than three thousand volumes have been added to the former, and more than one hundred articles have been supplied in the last ten years. Some further legislation is necessary to induce every district to supply itself with a library of useful books, and with some indispensable apparatus." FEMALE EDUCATION IN ENGLAND. THIRD ARTICLE. MARY ASTELL AND HER COLLEGE FOR YOUNG LADIES. MARY ASTELL, an early and able champion of the rights of her sex to a better education than could be got in any considerable number of the homes and schools of England in her day, was born in Newcastle on the Tyne, in 1668, where her father was engaged in trade, and gave her exceptionally good opportunities of study, which she promptly improved. Her uncle, a clergyman of the Church of England, perceiving her aptitude and diligence, taught her philosophy, mathematics, and logic, to which she added the Latin language, and thoughtful reading of the best English authors. Her publications show sound mental discipline, ready wit, and clear, logical reasoning; and she deserves to be held in grateful remembrance for what she did by her pen and life for female education and social advancement. Rev. A. G. L'Estrange, in his highly interesting Chronicles of Chelsea, devotes a chapter to Mary Astell, who resided in Chelsea from 1690 to 1731, when she died, in the sixty-second year of her age. Mary Astell was herself a learned lady of the older pattern. understanding mathematics, logic, and philosophy, and being familiar with the writings of Plato. Xenophon, Epictetus. Cicero, and Seneca. The decline in female education, during the past hundred and fifty years, had been considerable, and she looked back with regret to the days of Katherine Parr, Elizabeth, and Jane Grey, if not aspiring to the intellectual Elysium of the ancient philosophers. At the same time, she did not advocate the acquisition of a variety of languages, or the perusal of a large number of books, but rather the careful study of a few well-selected treatises, being more anxious to instruct her pupils in the truth according to the best light of the age than in the refutation of the errors of bygone centuries. In thus recommending concentration upon what was practically useful, she rightly indicated the objects of a sound education. But how was her excellent advice to be carried out amid the distractions of the world, in a frivolous age, when young ladies were surrounded by gay sparks and flatterers, and tempted "to think more of their glasses than of their reflections!" She herself was so frequently interrupted in her studies by the intrusions of gossiping idlers that it was a joke against her that, when she saw certain people approaching her door, she would throw up her window and call out, "Mrs. Astell is not at home." Such was her anxiety that her sisters might escape from "the vanities and impertinencies of the world," and from the contamination of the coarse literature of the times, that she proposed to form a select community, "to make seraphic celibacy popular and honorable among English ladies." With this view, she wrote, in 1694, an essay entitled, "A Serious Proposal to the Ladies for the Advancement of their true and greatest Interest. By a Lover of the Sex." In this, she says that her aim is "to fix beauty and make it lasting, permanent, and secure, and to place it out of the reach of sickness and old age, by transferring it from a corruptible body to an immortal mind." She wishes her pupils to be not |