_Libraries of Constantinople._--This city possesses thirty-two
public libraries, all varying in extent, but more or less celebrated for
the number and value of their manuscripts, which are neatly bound in
red, green, or black morocco. The Mohammedans have a peculiar method of
indorsing, placing, and preserving their books. Each volume, besides
being bound in morocco, is preserved from dust in a case of the same
material; and on it, as well as on the edges of the leaves, the title is
written in large and legible characters. The books are placed, one upon
another, in presses ornamented with trellis-work, and are disposed along
the wall, or in the four corners of the library. All these collections
are open to the public throughout the year, excepting on Tuesdays and
Fridays: the librarians are as polite and attentive as Turks can be to
those whom curiosity or love of study attract thither: and every one is
at liberty not merely to peruse, but to make extracts from the books,
and even to transcribe them entirely, provided this be done within the
walls of the library. Theology, including the Koran and commentators
thereon, jurisprudence, medicine, ethics, and history, are the sciences
chiefly cultivated by the Osmanlis. The books are all written with the
greatest care on the finest vellum, the text of each page is inclosed in
a highly-ornamented and gilt framework, the beginning of each chapter or
section is splendidly illuminated, and the value of the manuscripts
varies in proportion to the beauty of the characters.

We here terminate our rapid survey of the principal libraries of Europe.
Small, however, would be the interest which one should feel for these
magnificent establishments were they designed solely for the benefit of
a few individuals, or of any favored class. They would still be splendid
monuments of the productive powers of the human mind, and of the taste
or learning of their founders; but they would have no claims to that
unbounded admiration with which we now regard them. There is a
republican liberality in the management of the great libraries of the
continent of Europe which is well worthy of our imitation. In these
alone is the great invention of printing carried out to its full extent,
by the free communication of all its productions to every class of
society. No introduction, no recommendation, no securities are required;
but the stranger and the native are admitted, upon equal terms, to the
full enjoyme