Page:The autobiography of a Pennsylvanian.djvu/170

 and have been laboriously gathered together by the Society. Its collections of books and manuscripts are in many respects the richest in the country. At the dedication of the new hall in 1910 I made an address tracing its origin and development which has since been printed. The institution has been a marvelous instance of steady progress in resources and accomplishment. When I became a member John William Wallace was the president, a man of broad culture, who early in life attracted attention at home and in Europe by his book upon The Reporters of law cases. He had been reporter for the Supreme Court of the United States. He wrote attractively and presided at the meetings gracefully. A descendant of the Bradfords, the early printers, he saw to it that during his regime the books printed by them were sedulously collected. When he died, Brinton Coxe succeeded. A descendant of Dr. Daniel Coxe, one of the proprietors of West Jersey, and, coming of a family which had made a fortune from coal lands, he was much a gentleman of leisure. He had written books of value and was generous in his gifts. He had dark eyes, side whiskers and a kindly manner, but it was nervous torture for him to appear in public, and he fumbled through to the end of what little he had to say. He was succeeded by Dr. Charles J. Stillé, of an old Swedish family, who had been provost of the University of Pennsylvania and had the benefit of wide literary experience and cultivation. His Life of Wayne, written in old age, and too hurriedly, is disappointing, but his Life of William Smith and his pamphlet upon How a Free People Conduct a Great War are both admirable studies. He left a large bequest to the Society. But its success did not at all depend upon the efforts of its presidents. Whenever human institutions thrive, whether they be political, literary or theological, it is because there is connected with the organization some person of intelligence who has its interests at heart, who is willing to work with head and hands, who is ready 156