The
Librarian
There is none so felicitous as the Librarian, and
none with so small a cause of Ill Content, Jealousy or Rancour.
No other profession is like his; no other so happy.
Of the Clergy, I speak not, their Calling is sacred and not of this
world. The Physician and Lawyer
administer to the ills and evils of Mankind.
The Merchant’s happiness is conditioned upon his pecuniary Success.
But the Librarian, so far removed
from any of these, ministers to the Wisdom and Delight of Mankind, increases
his own Knowledge, lives surrounded by the Noble thoughts of great Minds, and
can take no concern of pecuniary Success, forasmuch as such a thing is not
within the boundaries of Possibility.
If any may rival him in good
Fortune, it is the Author who produces some great Work of which the Librarian
shall stand as humble Guardian. But
even here, again, a little reading suffices to show that Authors have
frequently lived in Turmoil or penury, dying destitute or wretched, because
that Publick Esteem which was necessary to their Contentment had been withheld
until long after they had quitted this Earth.
The
Librarian, as he cannot hope for Wealth (nor fret his Mind about it), so he
cannot expect to achieve Fame. Where is the Monument erected to a
Librarian? Great Monarchs and Warriors have theirs; in ancient times it was
even a custom thus to honour the Poet. But the Librarian lives and dies
unknown to Fame; the durable results of his Labors are not visible to the Eye,
and if at all he receiveth Honour it is for his private Character as a Man.
His Brother Librarians may know and Esteem him as an Ornament to their
Profession, and that is his sufficient Reward.
He lives protected, avaricious
neither of Money nor of Worldly Fame, and happy in the goodliest of all
Occupations, The Pursuit of Wisdom.
·
…from
The Old Librarian’s Almanack
1774
Harvard Law School, 1563 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA
02138
Copyright © 2001 The President and Fellows of Harvard
College. Reporting
Copyright Infringement
Last modified: Friday, January 18, 2002 03:31 PM
by Terry Martin.
