THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, AUGUST 28,1882.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6483, 28 August 1882, Page 4

THE The New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, AUGUST 28,1882.

Thh gift of Sir George Grey .to>the, city of Auckland is a gift of which: there hare been few instances, for such" a library with its special treasures .it-is-a great sacrifice to part with 1 during one's lifetime. A library dear,.to .the scholar and man/of taste, and partTcu-,' larly in the,circumstances of a new country, it must have been a solace to the possessor in: his periods of retirement from the cares of. publia.jlifa.. Arrangements for the erection' ofUa. proper library building for Auckland, projected some time back, have now become. indispensable-^, C.Happily. r "tKa' matter duty most interesting "as well as important. . Of' "all. their"'' insHtutidris' cities nowadays'are;wont .to__takfe most pride in their, libraries. may~coiicriH9^fc =: w£^ -every civilized age, as in the oldest .tioffiWots^were^^med^ • loi .tfo'-sonl"". E the jpresent day,a great mercantile* Jo&e, commerce* • quickens everything—-quickens curios;it3^Hh'e l /tiiirst 1 " for . ihfoEma6on,; /; the. | inT ■ a jmoosand :branctog3:4s.Cities look-well ; arar;thMrM jare-slamongi; theirr;prime: /attractions. a| to'Londbiii he ;first ,visits; {Westminster;' Abbey, and |Westmirister : llall, and_the Tower, be-. i j<»us&pf association and ttfie c 33tbbey^s v jture"~Bu<?am'6fi^iHstijtutions that which he visits first, and : icontinu.es n to,-,be-most ;.interested jtho British MuseumJ with itscollection* jof books, the second'largest in the world, . jits extraordinary wealth in manuscripts, [and the magnificent reading - roomT* {Australasia—-the "finest is ithat,of-jtlel-, "So .is the-parti-(thingfjiheyf,sefc., mostr/store: by in itheir towtt.'j ; K?lt has five years from .ayKandspme. edifice of moderate. .size' r , ( io ■* ijs dimensioMand noblearchitecture; and its content? fj- 100,O0Q yolutnes , tviro^ jwo. see,-; in Addition- to the ,£12,006 has'just.jbQpnicKoted to provide for of books. In' tho yery.midst of J t'tfe wild excitement (ofCthe gold;fever- that'estabJishment was,.founded;.;/The-auri, absorbing. asiit/was,; 'did -not 'hinder the early'^or. pKir -, wtellec tual .wants, y jtfiousan^s'of strangers owere' peekly on the wharves of the Yarra, and sometimes-evenfdailyj ! 'the' portals yrere thrown wide,.tQ: all-comers—an ■ arrangement which had not yet.becomes the Hbnme3 i of the Old Country." thusiasprof one fof;-ttie of " the Supreme Oourtf'Sir'RedmondVßariy,. originated; the institution was ever his deathj'-but .Jhe.public then or now have, grudged_.no. expense: or ;exertion .for what! they justly regard as an honour to the'colony.' I -Auckland-will some day be a great city iikewisei-and'perhaps :hefore •in'a'nyj years elapse, and the'jlan pureued J itf ; the ori^ai^dboume ; biiiiding," which • fca« much iarmdnious 1 eip<ifisibn,"isi .worthy of noteV-' All the j accredited.* principles ill regardtosuch ] edifices Vere'" ;kcptin new.' is"f»f l OTurse' tiiuvSrsaiiy I M3etstopd"&t,liliie? j site for suchian establishment must be , dry' a'nd-''iiiry, and that,,, if_jaear_a. j thoroughfare, ;the building' should i be> ] put as far back as-possible; that if a- j asa noisy'neigh-- J bourhood is fatal "to the .

place being 'wanted not merely for %ht-Ve'adinj£;sut for£tudy,-.. -Finally, that-the-original -structure'-should be in suoh a- ! fallow pnfr sureitolibei after■vrardasfo^d'^ecessaryi^i'.But;even; if ithe authorities did not lay<stress:upon these 'bßveralj they" • are and no-doubt whatlibrary's tjuiliimg,' bp■'so ' arranged^as,' :to' grow; wi th the growth* of' Auckland, and not need any shifting agaln..'~™.' j , | Our'prWeiiti'Kbrafy-' already, become an exceedingly-serious matter tp housed' &'it is. ,!r lt has been by the successive handsome donations which have .been made :by the Mayor. rheishelTCS'-araL.already.-overcrbwded, put ithe lack .of 'accommodation.'- for-the! joollcs, 'which would Boon - interfere with" :^ ' \ .the, yholeu wHich oxistVfroia the latura.of wooden.edifice,'thJeVe"is alwajs. he danger th'at inay'let i *^-^* 0 .nnmber-oiLthe. icraks o&'fiJe 1 - ttie ? pM^feswdctimi., "is" Uk' to furij* and 1 we 1 are' riot yjare .of any other, instance, of its beingazarded with 1 ext6'nsjye ( poUsctiom row, in bbuttoohtam-another-librarY,-contain-" 1 *3aoa as e.imyi STOX YSQ«amoh*, { .p>ajC> «<t2.Msi ei!).Jefontatdo at w

jtreasures, and the public of Auckland -will-hava-an-intellectual-endowment-to .profit boast of, with -which, "in -special particulars, even the ,^and ; institution of r Melbourne cannot chronicler '■{eUk-\ii|- that 'vrlieri''Alexander • captured - the- jewel -caskefc/of / .he^removed T f rom,it, the gems wKich adorned the Persian : tnonarjch, and .employed* it /to -hold the - Iliad-and of the' ; ; setae day have a lier public : rear an' : 'of J grea't> architectural preten- : safe and * a : ;iiticl6us for what . .-vrilL come in due course afterwards, and - we-'are' s very much mistaken ' in ' the gppjl tested our civic ,authoritira,fpresided;'over-by the pre"sent -MayorV'if/ jare-not now. > conduction, without f *deliy,'iof suchMbuUding.-