is to be applied to the purchase of useful books, particularly such as may be adapted to the religious and moral improvement of the young." The late Stephen Salisbury, also a member of the society, left to the Second Parish the sum of $1,500, the income of which is used in buying books for the Bangs Library.

The library of the Jail and House of Correction contains 650 volumes. It is made up of stories, histories, biographies, religious works, and a selection of books made with especial reference to the wants of Roman Catholic prisoners.

It is unnecessary to state that there are Sunday school libraries belonging to different churches in Worcester. At the Directory office there is a collection of 400 directories of different towns and cities. These, residents of Worcester are invited to use.

Mr. Andrew P. Lundborg, the Swedish bookseller, states that there are 1,500 Swedish books in churches and clubs in Worcester besides those in that language in the Free Public Library.

Among the libraries belonging to Catholic institutions, there are, besides the library of Holy Cross College, which has already been mentioned, several connected with different churches, as, for example, the Sodality library in the Catholic Institute and the Sunday school library in the school-house on Vernon street, which belongs to St. John's Parish; the library of St. Anne's Church; that of the Young Women's Society of the Church of the Sacred Heart, and the Sunday school library and the library of the Mutual Advancement Society of St. Peter's Church. Among other Catholic libraries is the Sodality library in the Convent of Mercy on High street. In these and other libraries connected with Catholic institutions there are at least 6,000 or 7,000 volumes.

LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC AND HISTORICAL

T

SOCIETIES.

BY NATHANIEL PAINE, A. M.*

HE history of Worcester in the past gives abundant evidence that its citizens have taken advantage of organization and coöperation in carrying out any enterprise they had at heart, for societies and associations were very early organized, not only for educational purposes, but to influence the political and social life of the town.

It is proposed in this chapter to give brief notices of the more prominent literary, scientific and historical societies now in existence in the city.

Before speaking of them, it may not be out of place to call attention to a few organizations founded in the early days of the town and not now in existence, but which in their day had more or less influence on the lives of our citizens.

One of the earliest of these of which there is any record was the "American Political Society," organized in 1773, which became a prominent factor in guiding the early Revolutionary action of the town and county, especially in bringing about the action of the majority of the people against the loyalists, who were largely men of standing in the community, and holders of offices under the crown.

It was undoubtedly the action of this society towards the loyalists that caused many of them to leave the town and country after giving up the offices they held.

The society also took an active part in municipal affairs, and in directing who should be supported for town and county offices. It is very probable that this attempt to control the town meetings and to dictate in the election of officers, caused dissensions among its members, and brought about its dissolution after an existence of about two years.

Among the societies that have ceased to exist are two that are worthy of mention, because of the part they had in the early educational life of the town.

* See sketch in Biographical Department.

The Worcester County Athenæum, established in 1830, as a stock company, with the object of forming a public library in Worcester, was probably one of the first organized attempts made for that purpose in central Massachusetts. It had acquired a small library of its own, and had also become possessed of a small collection of books which had been gathered by the "Worcester County Lyceum of Natural History," a society formed at some earlier day, whose existence was so brief that but little is known of it.

After a few years the Athenæum organization, which had been sup ported by the subscriptions of a few individuals, was given up and its library transferred to the American Antiquarian Society.

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Another society which had but a brief existence was the Worcester County Historical Society, incorporated in 1831 for the purpose of preserving materials for a complete and minute history of Worcester county." From Lincoln's "History of Worcester" it appears that in the celebration of the centennial of the establishment of the county, October, 1831, this society took an active part, its president, Honorable John Davis, delivering an address. As there is very little more recorded of it, it would seem that its aims did not meet with much encouragement, although it is quite probable that it may have been an aid to William Lincoln in the preparation of his valuable history of the town of Worcester a few years later.

The oldest secular organization now in active existence in Worcester is the Worcester Fire Society, established in 1793, "for the more effectual assistance of each other and of their townsmen in times of danger from fire." It has long since been superseded in that work by modern organizations and appliances, but it still observes the rules and regulations of a hundred years ago in regard to the care of the buckets, bags and bed-keys of the members, and quarterly meetings are held with regularity.

While it is now regarded as a social organization, it has some claim for mention here, as it is the custom to have an oration and a poem presented at each annual meeting, and it has contributed not a little to the history of the town and city by the printing of reminiscences or biographical notices of deceased members, many of whom were prominent in the affairs of the town, county and state.

The American Antiquarian Society, whose members are from all parts of the world, has its headquarters in Worcester, and may rightly be classed among our local institutions. It is the oldest society of an educational nature in the city, having been founded in 1812 and incorporated the same year. The original petition to the Legislature for an act of incorporation set forth that the petitioners were "influenced by a desire to contribute to the advancement of the arts and sciences, and

to aid by their individual and united efforts in collecting and preserving such materials as may be useful in marking their progress not only in the United States, but in other parts of the globe." Isaiah Thomas, the founder of the Massachusetts Spy, had accumulated a large collection of books, pamphlets and newspapers, and it was his offer to contribute these to a society that would take proper care of them that made the starting of such an enterprise possible. In 1819 the society had become an institution of such size and importance that the need of a building for preserving its collections, then of very considerable value, became apparent to its members. In this emergency Mr. Thomas, its generous founder, at his own expense, erected on the east side of Summer street, near Lincoln square, a commodious building of brick, and presented it to the society.

This building answered the purposes of the society till 1853, at which time the increase in the library and cabinet had become so great that it became necessary to erect the present building at the corner of Main and Highlands streets. Through the liberality of Honorable Stephen Salisbury, then the president, a substantial addition was made to the building in 1878.

The library and cabinet of the society have been constantly increasing, the former now numbering upwards of 100,000 volumes, which will be spoken of more in detail in another chapter.

The library and the valuable collection of manuscripts belonging to the society have been freely consulted by some of our most noted historians, among whom may be mentioned George Bancroft, Francis Parkman, Moses Coit Tyler, John B. McMaster, as well as many other students and writers.

There is also a large and valuable collection of newspapers, manuscripts and broadsides, the collection of newspapers being one of the largest and most important in the country, and is almost daily consulted, students from all parts of the country availing themselves of the privilege. The society has a goodly number of early American imprints, which have now become of great rarity and value. A list of these published before 1700 has recently been printed.

The publications of the Antiquarian Society have been numerous, consisting of the semi-annual reports of the proceedings from 1849 to the present time, containing a large amount of interesting archæological and historical information.

Seven volumes of the "Archeologia Americana" have also been published. These contain reprints of rare books and manuscripts, and specially prepared papers of antiquarian and historical topics. The last three volumes of this series contain a reprint of Thomas' "History of Printing in America," to which is added a list of American pre