E. Benest (the City Surveyor), the
Corporation officers bearing the city regalia, &c., &c.--followed by
a large procession of the Manchester Unity of Odd Fellows, carrying
flags and banners, the most prominent of which bore the
mottoes--'Success to the Free Library,' 'Peto, the true Friend of
Civil and Religious Liberty,' 'The Durability of the Constitution,'
and 'Education for the People.' The procession was headed by an
excellent brass band, playing, as it approached, the popular air,
'Cheer, boys, cheer!' At this stage of the proceedings the outer
crowd, in their anxiety to get within view of the proceedings, broke
the barriers, overpowered the police, and made a rush to the
palisades which surrounded the ground. These, by the weight of the
many persons who clung upon them, unfortunately gave way, bringing
with them a coping stone to which they were attached, and on which a
young man named Samuel Harper had been sitting. He was thrown to the
ground, and several people falling upon him he sustained a fracture
of one of his ankles. He was immediately conveyed to the hospital,
and we are glad to learn is doing well. Several other persons were
also injured, but not seriously. Beyond this no accident occurred.

"With the assistance of the City Surveyor and Mr. Stanley,
stone-mason, the worthy Mayor then proceeded to discharge his
agreeable duty--the laying of the first stone. He used for the
purpose a very elegant silver trowel {59a} with ivory handle,
furnished by the Messrs. Etheridge (which had been presented to his
worship by Mr. E. E. Benest) bearing the following inscription on the
blade:--

Presented
to
Sir Samuel Bignold, Knight,
Mayor of Norwich,
on the occasion of his laying
the first stone
of
The Free Library,
September 13th,
1854.

"Upon the surface of the stone a brass plate was fixed, on which was
engraved the following inscription:--

This first stone
of the
Norwich Free Library,