nt of all the advantages which the uncontrolled use of books
can afford. As this mode of accommodating, or rather of meeting the
wants of the public, is the real object of these institutions, they are
provided with librarians, who, under different titles corresponding to
the duties imposed upon them, receive from government regular salaries
proportioned to their rank and to the services which they perform. To
these the immediate superintendence of the library is wholly intrusted,
and at a stated hour of every day in the week, except of such as are set
apart for public or religious festivals, they open the library to the
public. There, undisturbed, and supplied with every thing the collection
contains that can aid him in his studies, the scholar may pass several
hours of every day without any expense, and with no other care than that
natural attention to the books he uses, which every one capable of
appreciating the full value of such privileges will readily give. Nor do
his facilities cease here. The time during which the libraries remain
open may be insufficient for profound and extensive researches, and the
writer who has to trace his facts through a great variety of works, and
to examine the unpublished documents to be found in public libraries
alone, would be obliged to sacrifice a large portion of every day if his
studies were regulated by the usual hours of these institutions. For
such persons, a proper recommendation can hardly fail to procure the
use, at their own houses, of the works they may need. In this manner the
door is thrown open to every one who wishes to enter, and science placed
within reach of all who court her favors.

This is as it should be; and it is therefore with great pleasure that we
have observed symptoms of improvement in this respect originating in our
legislature. In March, 1849, a select committee was appointed by the
House of Commons, on the motion of Mr. William Ewart, to report on the
best means of "extending the establishment of libraries freely open to
the public, especially in large towns, in Great Britain and Ireland."
This committee consisted of fifteen members--namely, Mr. Ewart, Viscount
Ebrington, Mr. D'Israeli, Sir Harry Verney, Mr. Charteris, Mr. Bunbury,
Mr. G. A. Hamilton, Mr. Brotherton, Mr. Monckton Milnes, the Lord
Advocate (Mr. Rutherford), Mr. Thicknesse, Sir John Walsh, Mr.
Mackinnon, Mr. Kershaw, and Mr. Wyld. These gentlemen seem to have
entered upon their labors wi