a pioneer in this entire locality, for when the free schools were established here in 1805 there was nothing of the sort in New York City or in Philadelphia or in the southern country. When Torrey was only sixteen years of age, that is, in the year 1803, he succeeded in opening in New Lebanon a free circulating library which has the distinction of being the first free library established in this country.* To spread his ideas about the value of libraries and also of schools, Torrey started on a tour through the country and finally reached this city via Frederick, Md. Shortly afterwards he took a trip through Virginia, and for the first time in his life he came into actual contact with slavery as it existed. But what he saw in this city made the deepest impression upon a mind that seemed to have been sensitive to all that pertained to the welfare and happiness of his fellow creatures. He had not been here very long before he witnessed a scene that seemed to thoroughly arouse every generous impulse. He saw as he relates in the book entitled "A Portraiture of Domestic Slavery," Philadelphia, 1817—undoubtedly inspired by this and other similar occurrences "Opposite the old capitol then in ruins, a procession of men, women and children following a wagon and bound some with ropes and some with iron chains.” A few days later he was told of the occurrence at the tavern, which was then some two weeks old, but was still fresh enough to be looked upon as a piece of news that would likely interest a stranger. Torrey was not an ordinary stranger, so instead of "The First Advocate of Free Public Libraries, Frederick J. Taggart," The Nation, Vol. 67, p. 220, September 22, 1898. VIEW OF THE CAPITOL OF THE UNITED STATES AFTER THE CONFLAGRATION OF 1814. (From "A Portraiture of Domestic Slavery.") resting content with what he heard of the tavern catastrophe, he made a personal investigation. He went at once to the place and was given permission to visit the injured woman, whom he found slowly recovering from her terrible experience. One of the copper plates in the book gives a view of the interior of the room, showing the woman lying on a pallet and the author seated listening to her story and that of the other colored prisoners whom he found there. Another plate shows the exterior of the building with the woman represented in the act of jumping from the window. According to the inscription attached to the plates, it is apparent that a draft of the scenes was furnished by Torrey and the drawings made and the plates engraved by other hands. The frontispiece is a drawing of a procession of manacled slaves passing along the east front of the Capitol Building. The latter is represented as it appeared a little more than a year after its destruction by the British soldiers. Unlike the other plates, which are rather crude pieces of work, the frontispiece is well executed and is one of the two representations of the Capitol Building at that interesting period that has been preserved. In addition to hearing from the lips of the woman who was a slave the story of the tragic occurrence which was prompted by desperation in finding that she was to be separated from her husband and her friends, Torrey also heard the stories of a colored man and woman who were confined in the same room, but who claimed to be free. They had been kidnapped from their home in Delaware and were now on their way to the South, doomed to a life of slavery. The parade of the manacled slaves through the streets which had aroused in Torrey, who saw it for the first time, such emotions that tears came to his eyes |