y known in
America, it immediately occurred to those interested that this might be
the missing volume from the Prince Library. A correspondence was
thereupon opened with the Bishop of London. The handwriting of Bradford
being authenticated, as well as that of Dr. Prince, which was found in a
memorandum, dated "June 28th, showing how he obtained it from Major John
Bradford," there could no longer remain a doubt that this was indeed the
lost historical treasure. Part of the manuscripts of Bradford had been
carried by the British soldiers to Halifax, and sold at last as
waste-paper to a grocer; and the rest, after some history unknown,
reached England and found protection under the care of the Bishop of
London. A copy of this manuscript is now in the possession of the Boston
Historical Society.

In the rooms of that society is preserved the Dowse Library. A rare
collection of books, formed by a man daily engaged in the mechanic craft
of a leather-dresser, is a singular illustration of the visible and
invisible of libraries. We recall past days in Cambridge, when, beneath
the sign of a white wooden sheep, we entered the unpretending house
which contained not only the leather-dresser's shop, but a small gallery
of pictures and this valuable library. We remember, also, with grateful
interest, the modest, but manly, welcome of the master of both the
mechanic craft and the treasures of art and literature, and how quietly
he would give us a few words about his books. The Dowse Library we visit
is always _there_, and although much is visible in the beautiful room
where the bequest of the owner has been fittingly enshrined, yet its
distinctive charm is invisible.

The City Library of Boston has one feature entirely new in the visible
of a great public collection. A large portion of the books, under
certain regulations, are circulated among the inhabitants of the city,
and thousands avail themselves of this privilege. Here, then, is opened
a great fountain of knowledge in the midst of a wide population: all may
come, without money and without price. The visible pages of learning,
wisdom, science, truth, imagination, ingenious theory, or deep
conviction lie open not only to the eyes, but to the hearts and homes of
a great people. It is like the overflowing Nile, carrying sweet waters
to irrigate many waste places, and clothing the dry dust of common life
with the flowers, the fruit, and the sustaining grain, springing from
invisib