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now remains to add the few alterations which have taken place on the list since then. In 1878 Councillors Arch. Dunlop and George Jackson joined the committee; Councillor William Wilson was chosen convener, and Councillor T. A. Mathieson sub-convener. In 1879 Councillors Peter Bertram, A. S. Bryce, Alexander M'Laren, Duncan M'Pherson, and John Ure replaced vacating members; and in 1880 Councillors Sir William Collins, and W. M'Neil Stuart were elected. The new members in 1881 were Councillors James Gray and J. R. Miller; in 1882, C. D. Rankin; in 1883, Councillors J. H. Martin, James Macfarlane, John Shearer, jun., Michael Simons, H. S. Thomson, and James Colquhoun; and in 1884, Councillors Thomas Cumming, Robt. Graham, David Logan, and Walter Paton. The committee has been reduced from its former dimensions to ten members.

With respect to the financial position of the library it may be stated that all that has yet been done,-the acquisition of a library of 57,100 volumes and the issue to readers of more than two and a half millions, together with the extensive use made of the current periodicals, has practically been accomplished by the interest of the fund, the capital sum now being only some £1,500 less than when handed over by Mr. Mitchell's agents. The full realization of the objects pointed to in Lord Provost Blackie's report would require longer time and larger resources than have been at the disposal of the committee. After payment of rent, lighting and warming, salaries and wages, insurance, annuities under the founder's will, and incidental expenses, the amount available for the purchase of books and periodicals and for binding has in recent years averaged about £800. Considerable as this appears, when it is compared with corresponding expenditures at Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham (not to speak of cities in the United States), it will be seen how far it is from enabling the committee to secure for public use the greater and rarer

works of our own and other times and countries, and otherwise giving full effect to the liberal policy they have adopted.

The principal inconveniences to which readers have been subjected arise entirely from the fact that the business of the library has long outgrown the premises in which it is placed. The overcrowding has been very great, so much so as to deter many from taking advantage of the books provided. Literary men and students particularly, who require quiet and space for their work, have been at a great disadvantage. The ventilation, originally defective, has with greater numbers present become much worse, and offers another serious hindrance to the use of the library.

Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, however, it has to be recorded that the library has so far had a remarkable and unlooked-for measure of success, and has become one of the most popular of the city institutions. As a recent observer has remarked, it has already “established a claim to be called a great library -great in progress, great in usefulness, greater still in promise."

CHAPTER XII.

THE EUING MUSICAL LIBRARY.

Intentions of the Founder-The manner in which they have been carried out-Inaccessibility of the Library-Defects of the Catalogue-Service which the Collection might render to Musical Art-Extent of the Library-Historical and Biographical Works -Great Wealth of the Library in Didactic and Theoretical Works-Sacred Vocal Music, Individual Composers; Collections; Rich in Psalters-Secular Vocal Music-Instrumental Music-Miscellaneous Works.

THIS large and important collection of musical works was formed by the late William Euing, insurance broker in Glasgow, and was bequeathed by him to Anderson's University in 1874. The provisions of his will bear that the library of musical works is "to be the property of, and deposited and kept in Anderson's University in all time coming, and to be made available for the use and instruction of the professor or lecturer on music, and of the students in said Anderson's University, under such restrictions or regulations as the managers and trustees thereof may deem proper for their care and preservation." A sum of £500,

subsequently increased by a codicil to £1,000, was left for the purpose of providing a fire-proof compartment for housing the library, and for providing a fund for the maintenance of a librarian or curator. A further sum of £200 was left to be applied to the compilation, publication, and gratuitous distribution of a catalogue of the library; and in addition to all the foregoing, the

testator left his stock of musical instruments for the Such, in brief, is the

benefit of the same institution. history of the origin of this library.

Before proceeding to a description of the contents of the library, it may be useful and instructive to determine how far the intentions of the founder have been fulfilled; and to learn by the sequel that benevolence which is intended to have posthumous effect may oftentimes be robbed of its efficiency by a too jealous interpretation of the donor's dying testament. The library is certainly "deposited and kept" in Anderson's University, but to such good purpose that the founder's intentions with regard to its being made available for the use and instruction of students are practically void. A building has been erected, on fire-proof principles no doubt, but which an actual test is quite liable to disprove; while its damp-proof capabilities seem never to have received the distinction of a thought. Its fireresisting qualities in this latter connection are undeniable however, though the consolation arising from the fact will scarcely counterbalance the ultimate destruction of the library. No funds seem to have survived the erection of the sepulchre in which the library is interred, and the want of a librarian accordingly forms an unfailing excuse and off-put to any inquiring spirit who may chance to desire the use of Mr. Euing's books. The £200 have been spent in printing a large handsome volume of 256 pages, bearing the title, "Catalogue of the Musical Library of the late William Euing, Esq.," etc., and having the date 1878. Its value as a catalogue is open to some question on grounds afterwards to be stated, but its virtues as an irritant, to such persons as desire to consult the treasures it pretends to describe, and have experienced the hopelessness of the desire, are unmatched. The defects of the catalogue are chiefly those of arrangement and transcription; but there are other faults no less heinous, though of less general consequence. In the first place, the catalogue

pretends to be on the classified model, though it is without a separate and sequential index of authors, in consequence of which it is often necessary to make ten or more different references in order to discover what works of any composer the library possesses. It is divided into eight principal parts, which are again subdivided, the whole forming fifteen sections. One part calls for special notice, namely the "Addenda," in which are three sections arranged on the no-arrangement principle, and containing some of the most valuable items in the library. It is neither alphabetical nor chronological, but a simple or compound hash of titles without order or utility. It is not too much to say that this uncritical compilation is an insult to the valuable collection it professes to index.

Here, then, is an extensive library, the most valuable of its kind in Scotland, and one of the most valuable in the United Kingdom, shut up from public access, and almost wholly conserved from any use whatever by those musical students for whose benefit it was left. The policy of those responsible for this state of matters is highly injurious to the best interests and progress of the musical community in Glasgow, and will not fail to make the city be regarded as a place where enlightenment has been withheld by those whose office and obligation it is to further the advancement of universal knowledge. The advantages which a free and judicious use of the Euing Library would be to musicians in Glasgow are incalculable, and would not fail to foster the growing interest in music now apparent on every side. Musicians of every grade, whether professional or amateur, would find something of interest and value in the collection, and the educational influence of the library would ultimately prove a powerful force in bringing about the higher cultivation of music now being aimed at all over the world. It has always been a matter of reproach that Scotland has never produced a composer of first-rate ability

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