(Vol. viii., p. 220.)
I have great pleasure in removing from the mind of your correspondent an
erroneous impression which must materially affect his good opinion of a
school to which I am sincerely attached. He asks if in any of the public
schools there are libraries of books giving general information accessible
to the scholars. Now my information only refers to one, that of Eton. There
is a library at Eton consisting of some thousand volumes, filled with books
of all kinds, ancient and modern, valuable and valueless. It is open to the
150 first in the school on payment of eighteen shillings per annum, and on
their refusal the option of becoming subscribers descends to the next in
gradation. The list, however, is never full. The money collected goes to
the support of a librarian, and to buy pens, ink, and paper, and the
surplus (necessarily small) to the purchase of books. The basis of the
library is the set of Delphin classics, presented by George I. The late
head master (now provost) has been a most munificent contributor; Prince
Albert has also presented several valuable volumes. Whenever the Prince has
come to Eton he has always visited the library, and taken great interest in
its welfare; and on his last visit said to the provost that he should be
quite ready and willing to obey the call whenever he was asked to lay the
first stone of a museum in connexion with the library.