um eruditis qui virgilias suas utilitati publicae
devoverunt, liberaliter communicet;" &c.--_Bibliotheca
Hulsiana_, vol. i. Praefat. p. 3, 4. Morhof abounds with
sagacious reflections upon this important subject: but are
there fifty men in Great Britain who love to read the
_Polyhistor Literarius_? The observations of Ameilhon and
Camus, in the _Memoires de l'Institut_, are also well worth
consultation; as are those of Le Long, and his editor,
prefixed to the last edition of the _Bibliotheca Sacra_.]

LIS. Excellent!--Treat copiously upon this my darling subject.

BELIN. You speak with the enthusiasm of a young convert; but I should
think the study of Bibliography a sure means of increasing the
violence of the book-disease.

LYSAND. The encouragement of _the Study of Bibliography_, in its
legitimate sense, and towards its true object, may be numbered among
the most efficacious cures for this destructive malady. To place
competent Librarians over the several departments of a large public
Library; or to submit a library, on a more confined scale, to one
diligent, enthusiastic, well-informed, and well-bred Bibliographer or
Librarian (of which in this metropolis we have so many examples), is
doing a vast deal towards directing the channels of literature to flow
in their proper courses. And thus I close the account of my recipes
for the cure of the Bibliomania. A few words more and I have done.

It is, my friends, in the erection of Libraries as in literary
compositions, the task is difficult, and will generally meet with
opposition from some fastidious quarter,[468] which is always
betraying a fretful anxiety to bring every thing to its own ideal
standard of perfection. To counteract the unpleasant effect which such
an impression must necessarily produce, be diligent and faithful, to
your utmost ability, in whatsoever you undertake. You need not evince
the fecundity of a German[469] author; but only exert your best
endeavours, and leave the issue to a future generation. Posterity will
weigh, in even scales, your merits and demerits, when all present
animosities and personal prejudices shall have subsided; and when the
utility of our labours, whether in promoting wisdom or virtue, shall
be unreservedly acknowledged. You may sleep in peace before this
decision take place; but YOUR CHILDREN may live to witness it; and
your name, in consequence, become a passport for them into circles