Such a desire did not exist. Many of the people not only never had
read any books but they flatly declined to begin. Mr. Guille felt that
this deplorable attitude ought to be combatted, and he therefore
persevered in the thankless and difficult task of trying in the first
place to create the want, and in the second place to satisfy it. A
quarter-of-a-century's earnest effort in a good cause, however, cannot
fail to produce some fruit, and within the last three or four years
much brighter days have dawned. Mr. Guille's lifelong friend and
former business partner, Mr. F.M. Alles,--who had often previously
substantially assisted him,--has latterly thoroughly associated
himself with the work, and the result is that the rudimentary scheme
of 1856 has at length culminated in the splendid
GUILLE-ALLES LIBRARY,
which was thrown open to the public in the old Assembly Rooms, on the
2nd of January, 1882, and bears on its portal the appropriate motto:
_Ingredere ut proficias_--"Enter that thou mayst profit." How
admirably this fine Institution is fulfilling its mission is
well-known to all who frequent it.
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