_Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll:_ _Charms strike the sense, but merit wins the soul._ The plate of the _Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts_ is also pictorial, and represents a ship of the Society, with its missionary, approaching the shore of savage America: this plate is dated 1704, and is very curious and interesting. The society grew from the efforts of one Rev. Thomas Bray, who established thirty-nine parochial libraries in the American Colonies for the purpose of propagating the doctrines [Illustration: The Gift of the Society for propagating the Gospell in Foreign parts, 1784] of the Church. In 1698, King’s Chapel, Boston, received some two hundred books from this society, which were described as “an arsenal of sound theological, ecclesiastical, and political doctrines for the Ministers of His Majesty’s Chapel.” For the prevention of loss or embezzlement, and that they might be known wherever [Illustration: SOCIAL LAW LIBRARY Boston.] found, “in every book, on the inside cover shall be these words, ‘Sub auspiciis Wilhelmi III,’ and also the Library to which they belong, thus ‘E Bibliotheca Bostoniana.’” This must have been in addition to the plate we are considering, as no words descriptive of particular ownership are given: possibly this plate was used in all the books belonging to the society, and the supplementary one was for use in each individual library. * * * * * College plates are as a general thing very plain, but the plates used by the societies supported by the students and the alumni, are often very elaborate. The early societies in Harvard and in Yale had curious and very interesting examples of the allegorical and symbolic plate. The _Hasty Pudding Society_ and the _Porcellian Club_ of Harvard College, the _Linonian Society_ and the _Brothers in Unity_ of Yale College, are examples. In Dartmouth College, the _Social Friends Society_, and in the smaller colleges numerous other fraternities and societies, used plates of simpler style. The books of the Library of Harvard College were marked with plates by Hurd and Bowen, as noted in the list; on these plates, the gifts of various benefactors are recorded, with the class to which they belonged, conditions regarding the gift of the books, or a statement of the fund from whose income the money for the books is derived. The plate of the _Library of Congress_ is an engraved label having the name and spaces for [Illustration] [Illustration: LINONIAN LIBRARY YALE COLLEGE] entries surrounded by a border of oak leaves and acorns: the design is very neat, and is old in appearance. A very beautiful plate is used by some _Orphan Asylum_, which does not give its full name upon its plate. In this a beautiful picture of the Christ blessing the little ones is given; the line “Forasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these, ye did it unto Me,” is given under the vignette.