l first, and the Knickerbocker the
law.

Leaving the typographical treasures of the library, we ascend the broad
marble stairway to the floor above, for a brief glance at the paintings
and statuary. In the hall devoted to sculpture are many noble and
beautiful works of art in marble, the most noticeable perhaps being
Powers's "Il Penseroso," the bust of Washington and the "Babes in the
Wood" by Crawford, and the statue of Lincoln by Ball. In the
picture-gallery on the east are a hundred and fifty subjects. On the
south wall hangs a canvas which is at once recognized as the
masterpiece. It is Munkacsy's "Blind Milton dictating 'Paradise Lost' to
his Daughters." This painting is fitly supported on one side by a
portrait of Milton owned for many years by Charles Lamb, and on the
other by a copy of Lely's fine portrait of Cromwell.

The Mercantile is the popular library of the city; in no sense a public
library, however, for the student or stranger must advance a pretty
liberal entrance-fee before he can avail himself of its benefits. This
institution is a pleasing example of what can be done by many hands,
even though there be little in them: it has reached its present
proportions without endowment or State aid, chiefly through the steady,
continuous efforts of the merchants' clerks of the city. They have
always managed it, one generation succeeding another, and they have in
it to-day the largest circulating library in America. Mr. William Wood,
a benevolent gentleman who devoted many of his later years to improving
the condition of clerks, apprentices, and sailors, is regarded as the
founder. Mr. Wood was a native of Boston, and in business there during
early life, but later removed to London. After distributing much dole to
the poor of that city, he founded a library for clerks in Liverpool, and
subsequently one in Boston, the latter being the first of its kind in
this country. The various mercantile libraries at Albany, Philadelphia,
New Orleans, and other places are said to have been founded on the plan
of this. In 1820 Mr. Wood began interesting the merchants' clerks of New
York in the project of a library for themselves. The first meeting to
consider it was held at the Tontine Coffee-House, in Wall Street, on
November 9 of that year; and at an adjourned meeting on the 27th of the
same month a constitution was formed and officers elected. The young men
contributed a little money for the purchase of books, the merchan