§ Order of the Day for the Second Reading read.
§ Moved, "That the Bill be now read 2a."—(The Earl of Shaftesbury.)
§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY,on moving the second reading of this Bill, said, it related to an Act for which they 1996 were indebted to the hon. Member for Dumfries (Mr. Ewart), and which had been passed by Parliament eleven years ago—namely, in 1855. The Act had proved very useful; twenty-seven free public libraries had been established under it throughout the country which were quite unrestricted as to their admission, and were resorted to by rich and poor. To every one of these libraries a lending library was attached, which added very much to the public value of these institutions. The operation of the present Bill was to extend the operation of the original Act by one or two trifling provisions, and to assimilate the law in Scotland to that in England and Ireland.
§ Motion agreed to: Bill read 2a; accordingly, and committed to a Committee of the Whole House on Monday next.