A mere enumeration of the committee
sufficed to frighten away all who held by Church, State, and Mr.
Welwyn-Baker: the Institute was no longer an Institute, but a
"hot-bed."
How could respectable people make use of a library which admitted
works of irreligious and immoral tendency? It was an undoubted fact
(the _Mercury_ made it known) that of late there had been added to
the catalogue not only the "Essays of David flume" and that
notorious book Buckle's "History of Civilization," but even a large
collection of the writings of George Sand and Balzac--these latter
in the original tongue; for who, indeed, would ever venture to
publish an English translation? As for the reading-room, was it not
characterization enough to state that two Sunday newspapers, reeking
fresh from Fleet Street, regularly appeared on the tables? What
possibility of perusing the _Standard_ or the _Spectator_ in such an
atmosphere? It was clear that the supporters of law and decency must
bestir themselves to establish a new Society. Mr. Mumbray, long
prominent in the municipal and political life of the town, had
already made the generous offer of a large house at a low rental--
one of the ancient buildings which had been spoilt for family
residence by the erection of a mill close by. The revered Member for
the borough was willing to start the new library with a gift of one
hundred volumes of "sterling literature.
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