The first section of the Library is devoted entirely to the manuscript reproductions of the autographs of celebrated men in all ranks and phases of life, covering a period of three centuries. They are, in fact, the American edition of the reproduction of rare and celebrated autographs drawn from the British Museum that was issued in England under the editorship of the Assistant Keeper of the Manuscripts. They afford an opportunity to the inquiring reader to study the characters of Rulers, Statesmen, Writers, and Artists through the medium of their chirography.
It has long been recognized that character is traceable through handwriting. So it is interesting to discern in the characters traced by Henry VIII the hardened, sensual and selfish character of that autocrat and polygamist; in the writing of Thomas Wolsey, those crafty traits combined with perseverance and mock humility which raised him wellnigh to supremacy in the realm and led him finally to a downfall more complete than any we read of in English history; and in that of Charles V, of Spain, the hard-headed continence of character and superb common sense which enabled him at the height of glory to retire to a monastery while yet there was "daylight in life," as he expressed it, "for the making of his soul." Apart from the historical interest of these Documents, this study of character as revealed in them will prove fascinating to thinking minds.
The Magna Carta, greatest of all historical charters wrung from the various kings of England from Henry I downward, was granted by King John at the pressing instance of the Barons and Commons of England toward the end of his ill-judged and unfortunate reign. Of this Document, celebrated and historic as it is, but little is known at large. Although Blackstone and other prominent lawyers have written upon it, information about it is hard to obtain. No reproduction of the original Document has ever been offered to American collectors. This facsimile is illuminated in colors with the shields of many of the Peers who compelled King John to accede to their demands for civil and religious liberty. The original charter was signed at a place called Runnymede (the Council Meadow) a spot between Windsor and Staines, on the 15th of June, 1215, about a year before the death of John. It practically guaranteed to the Commons of England all the civil and religious rights they enjoy to-day. It dealt with testamentary law as well, securing to widows all the legal rights which they to-day possess. It dealt with the rights of accused persons; with military service; with feudal tenure; with taxation, and it limited the heretofore autocratic power of the King to an extent unknown before in the history of the world. If we except the Declaration of Independence, it is the most interesting historical record of all time.
The Second Section of the Library (ten volumes) is devoted to the presentation of Government, Philosophy, Law and Ethics. This section embraces such names as Grotius, Plato, Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Adam Smith, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, Walter Bagehot, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Machiavelli, as well as those builders of Ideal Governments, More, Bacon, Campanella and Rousseau.
Of all benefactors in Literature of the human race, Grotius may perhaps rank as first among his equals. Centuries have borne witness to the justness of his premises and the wisdom of his conclusions. The principles of national law laid down by him are to-day accepted as the axioms of the Science. Among the nations, perhaps the United States is most deeply interested in the right administration of the principles affirmed by Grotius in his gigantic work on the "Rights of War and Peace," and it was therefore most fitting, when the recent peace conference at The Hague completed the great structure of international comity, the foundations of which were laid by Grotius in 1625, that a silver wreath was laid by the representative of the United States upon the grave of the man to whom the Conference owed its initial impulse, although at a distance in time of nearly three centuries.
When the Publisher determined, under the advice of his Editorial Council, to publish Grotius, he found that only two volumes of the first edition were available in the Library of Congress. At much expense and trouble, he instituted a search in Europe and finally obtained the missing volume, which he presented to the Congressional Library, where it now is.
Sir George Cornewall Lewis's "Government of Dependencies" is characterized by the accuracy of its information. It is a reliable text book for the guidance of any nation in the treatment of its dependencies and colonies. It is a Classic that will survive as long as colonization remains to be done, and it is remarkable that although it was published for the first time sixty years ago, the illustrations afforded by the last two generations support the justice of its principles and the exactness of its deductions.
Adam Smith's "Essay on Colonies" presents an introductory view of the principles governing colonial policy. It is a fitting work to go hand in hand with the greater one of Sir George Cornewall Lewis. It is of practical use to American Statesmen, since the United States seems at present to be entering upon a world-wide colonial policy. Its practical wisdom, which has made it a Classic for all times, finds a special applicability in the conditions of to-day, for Adam Smith was a theorist in the best sense of the word, that is to say, he was a man whose breadth of view, instead of unfitting him for practical details, enabled him to deduce from the lessons of history and experience the right solutions for the problems of Colonial policy.
Plato's "Republic" and "Statesman" must be regarded to-day not merely as historical records of a by-gone philosophy, but as living, teaching dissertations upon theories which cannot fail to awaken in studious minds the highest ideals of life and government. Modern problems stated in the light of Plato's philosophy, as it is expressed in these books, will find readier solutions when examined in the light of its principles. No student of sociology, of politics, national and municipal, or of government in all its many-sided aspects, can afford to be without a knowledge of these immortal discourses.
Goldwin Smith has declared that of all expositions of constitutional Government, "The Federalist" ranks the highest. When Hamilton, Madison, and Jay first conceived the idea of printing in the common tongue their ideas upon the principles of free government, they unwittingly laid the foundations of the best commentary on the principles of popular government ever written. Political science owes to them the most important contribution to its literature made since its birth. The Essays are equally admirable for sagacity, simplicity, and patriotism, and while The Federalist will never be read for pleasure, it contains a mine of wisdom for the student and the constitutional lawyer, and as a text book of political science is without a parallel.