Beyond the Venetian corridor follow in order three large halls, designated respectively as the Registration, Patent, and Newspaper Rooms. Mr. John Elliott has been chosen to decorate the Patent Room, and is already at work upon it; the other decorations are not yet assigned. From the Byzantine alcove, just mentioned, a staircase ascends to the third story; and the door on the first landing leads into a stone balcony, overhanging Bates Hall above its main entrance in the centre of the western wall. At this point a fine view may be obtained, not only of the hall itself and its silent company of readers, but also through the great façade windows, out across the open square, where the Romanesque towers of Trinity Church rise grandly in the distance. All the stir and hubbub of the city are shut out. Standing in this clear light, one is doubly impressed by the fitness of the place for study, and the voice sinks with a natural impulse to a whisper, lest, through inadvertence, the study should be interrupted.

The staircase brings us out upon the third floor, which is entered by a corridor leading to the special libraries. This is a vaulted hall, wide and lofty, without windows, but well lighted from above. The arched ends, deeply recessed, are destined for Sargent's decorations illustrating the world's religious history. The north end only is finished, and we turn toward it to be overwhelmed by the splendor of its color, before our first attempt to grasp the full force of the painter's conception. Upon drawing nearer we observe that the space is divided into three parts—a lunette, an arched ceiling, and a frieze—treated separately, yet interdependent. The central foreground of the lunette is filled by a group of Israelites pleading for release from the rod of Egypt and the yoke of Assyria, whose mighty figures trample upon the slain and threaten the living with uplifted arms. On either side are the royal attributes and idols of oppression—Pasht, the cat-headed goddess, the ibis of the Nile, the Assyrian lion. The crimson wings of seraphs flame through all the background, and the hand of Jehovah issues from a cloud, checking the sword in its downward stroke. Red and gold are used freely, their illuminating effect being heightened by the sombre gray of the accessories. The kneeling group in bondage is splendidly composed, and the fierce Assyrian tyrant is drawn with extraordinary power and skill.