Colonel Anderson and introduced me to him, and in this way the windows
were opened in the walls of my dungeon through which the light of
knowledge streamed in. Every day's toil and even the long hours of
night service were lightened by the book which I carried about with me
and read in the intervals that could be snatched from duty. And the
future was made bright by the thought that when Saturday came a new
volume could be obtained. In this way I became familiar with
Macaulay's essays and his history, and with Bancroft's "History of the
United States," which I studied with more care than any other book I
had then read. Lamb's essays were my special delight, but I had at
this time no knowledge of the great master of all, Shakespeare, beyond
the selected pieces in the school books. My taste for him I acquired a
little later at the old Pittsburgh Theater.

John Phipps, James R. Wilson, Thomas N. Miller, William
Cowley--members of our circle--shared with me the invaluable privilege
of the use of Colonel Anderson's library. Books which it would have
been impossible for me to obtain elsewhere were, by his wise
generosity, placed within my reach; and to him I owe a taste for
literature which I would not exchange for all the millions that were
ever amassed by man. Life would be quite intolerable without it.
Nothing contributed so much to keep my companions and myself clear of
low fellowship and bad habits as the beneficence of the good
Colonel. Later, when fortune smiled upon me, one of my first duties
was the erection of a monument to my benefactor. It stands in front of
the Hall and Library in Diamond Square, which I presented to
Allegheny, and bears this inscription:

To Colonel James Anderson, Founder of Free Libraries in
Western Pennsylvania. He opened his Library to working boys