_Parochial Libraries_ (Vol. viii. _passim_).--In the small village of
Halton, Cheshire, there is a small public library, of no inconsiderable
extent and importance, founded in 1733 by Sir John Chesshyre, Knight, of
Hallwood in that county. Of the works comprised in the collection, the
following may be selected as best worthy of mention: Dugdale's
_Monasticon_, Rymer's _Foedera_, Walton's _Polyglot_, and a host of
standard ecclesiastical authors, interspersed with modern additions of more
general interest. The curate for the time being officiates as librarian;
the books being preserved in a small stone building set apart for the
purpose, in the vicinity of his residence. Over the door is the following
inscription:
"Hanc Bibliothecam,
pro communi literatorum usu,
sub cura curati capellæ de Halton
proventibus ter feliciter augmentatæ,
JOHANNES CHESSHYRE miles
serviens D'ni Regis ad legem,
D. D. D.
Anno MDCCXXXIII."
Sir John, the founder, was buried at Runcorn, where a monument exists to
his memory, bearing the following epitaph at its foot:
"A wit's a feather, and a chief's a rod,
An honest man's the noblest work of God."
The parishes of Stoke Damarel, Devon, and of St. James the Great,
Devonport, have each their parochial library: the former commenced in 1848,
by the Rev. W. B. Flower, late curate of the parish; and the latter by the
Rev. W. B. Killpack, the first incumbent of the district.