Edison, the wizard : the story of the world's greatest inventor
1901
A COTTON PRINCE.L7 old man of eighty-four came forward and offered to take ,£50,000 worth of shares, to which afterwards, when the project appeared again in danger, he added another ,£10,000; and when a guarantee of ^360,000 was further required, his name was first upon the list of guarantors.This practical expression of his confidence in the scheme, there can be no doubt, very materially affected its fortunes." This action on the part of the greatest merchant prince of Manchester," says a Manchester newspaper, " had a marked effect, not only in renewing affd stimulating the confidence of the public in the undertaking, but, it is believed, in the action of the Parliamentary Committee itself, and anything better timed it is not easy to imagine."THE CHRISTIAN MERCHANT.\ John Rylands was always a deeply religious man, and his life Was largely coloured by his faith.His parents were Congregationalists, and he held the same views, but had also adopted the tenets of the Baptists.So far back as 1846 he anticipated-in connection with the schools he organised, at a personal cos/ of some ,£2,000, for the benefit of the children and adults employed at his Gorton Mills-the modern Board School, and it is surprising to notice the breadth of the regulations he laid down there with regard to religious instruction.In his business dealings John Rylands set an exceptionally high standard, and his name was a synonym for uprightness and strict integrity.He died during the last month of 1888 at the age of eighty-seven years. A LIBRARY AS A MONUMENT.Few men in the years to come will be remembered by so magnificent and useful a monument as will John Rylands.When Mrs. Rylands thought how best she could commemorate the name and the worth of her husband, she resolved to dedicate to his memory an institution devoted to the encouragement of scholar¬ ship.The great John Rylands Library in Deansgate, Manchester, is the result.A quarry in the Lake District was almost exhausted in finding stone for this building.The interior is of particular beauty.The contents are even more remarkable than the building.It contains the celebrated collection of illuminated and other MSS.belonging to the Earl of Crawford, the distinctive treasures of which are the early date of the principal MSS. and the number of marvellous bindings in metal and ivory dating from the 12th and 13th centuries.The Library contains also the most famous of all private collections, " The Althorp Library," sold by Earl Spencer, and acquired by Mrs. Rylands for a great sum, Mrs. Rylands has herself collected standard works in theology, philosophy, history, biography, and the sciences generally.The library consists now of one of the finest collections of bibliographical treasures in the world-so far as the early history of printing is concerned.Nor is it less remarkable for its collection of Bibles in every language-the finest collection next to the British Museum in existence.Altogether it is a unique memorial of a wife to her husband.