]24 A SPKJXG TOUR IX rORTUGAT-. 



invited to enter freely and read. Here, indeed, is an ex- 

 ample worthy of imitation, — a free institution of public 

 benefit, conceived in the spirit of true liberality, — a library 

 which offers its treasures to the humblest student, and 

 which is daily frequented by numbers, instead of hoarding 

 its unread volumes, from which the multitude is excluded, 

 as is too often the case with our libraries at home. We 

 found readers of all classes and of all ages taking advan- 

 tage of this great boon, from the mechanic who had econo- 

 mised time to refresh his mind in this great laboratory, to 

 the schoolboy, in academical costume, who w^as pursuing 

 his studies in this quiet retreat. The librarian was so 

 good as to conduct us round the building, and point out 

 everything worthy of attention, and bring out all the rarer 

 books in the collection, of which there were many : but 

 all these things seemed insignificant compared with the one 

 grand feature, — that all this large library was accessible to 

 everybody ; and we came away deeply impressed with ad- 

 miration at the unbounded liberality of its founders and 

 directors. In the ground-floor of this building we walked 

 through an extensive gallery of pictures, which, however, 

 were of no merit, and need not arrest the traveller's atten- 

 tion for a single moment. 



Mr. Wilby also conducted us to the new Crystal Palace, 

 which, though of little interest to us, as it is a mere copy, 

 on a small scale, of what may be met with in France and 

 England in greater perfection, is to the inhabitants of 

 Oporto that on which they chiefly pride themselves, and 

 to which they conduct strangers with no little exultation, 

 as a proof, which undoubtedly it is, of their advancement 

 and energy. We found it to be a building of considerable 

 size, of the uniform Crystal Palace aspect and shape, sur- 

 rounded with a well-kept garden, laid out after the English 

 fashion, but stocked with flowers and shrubs such as the 

 English climate would forbid us to attempt to rear in the 



