222 General Notices. 



Hamlet's cloud, which, in the opinion of the old courtier, was, in the con- 

 secutive moments of his speaking, " backed like an ouzel, and very like a 

 whale ; " for this plastic matter is, it seems, quite ready for sea or land, for 

 plant or for animal, and, just as the waves set or the winds blow, it may 

 become a sea-weed or a lichen, a lettuce or a lion. — J. M. Chelsea, Oct. 21. 

 1837. 



Cheap circulathig Libraries. — Some years ago, a reading institution and 

 a cheap circulating library were established in Windsor, chiefly through the 

 influence of Charles Kninht, Esq., the founder of the Penny Magazine. The 

 history of this library is exceedingly interesting, and has been given in An 

 Address to the Subscribers, Sfc, by Mr. Knight, London, 18mo. 1833. It was 

 to this institution that Sir John Herschel directed the address that we have 

 quoted from in the preceding paragraph ; and if we could venture to take 

 room, we would quote largely also from that of Mr. Knight. We confine 

 ourselves, however, to one or two sentences. " I should like," says Mr. 

 Knight, " to see, as a branch of your establishment, a room provided, fur- 

 nished with benches and a table, supplied with light and fire in the winter, 

 and fitted out with a very few well-selected books, into which every lad of 

 decent conduct might find admission from 7 till 10 o'clock every work-day 

 evening. Those who know anything of the course of a working lad's hfe 

 must understand the difficulties he feels, under the greater number of circum- 

 stances, of enjoying an hour of quiet after the labour of the day. He has, 

 probably, no paternal home, and at his humble lodging he is surrounded with ' 

 every thing disagreeable. He seeks his pleasures among lads similarly situ- 

 ated; and their evening companionship generally terminates in the ale-house. 

 I think you might do a great good by offering such young men a warm and 

 silent retreat for a few hours, strictly interdicting the use of any liquor, 

 and affording no inducement but the opportunity of reading. You might do 

 this at the charge to each of not more than two-pence a week, perhaps less. 

 If there be any good desires in the working youth of these towns, the}' would 

 be called out by such an opportunity; and if you save only one in twenty 

 from the temptations which so easily beset the young and inexperienced, you 

 will have your reward." 



The above idea is so excellent, and so easily susceptible of being carried into 

 execution, that we trust it only requires to be made known to be adopted in a 

 number of country' towns and villages. 



In the Penny Magazine for Dec. 21. 1833, a notice is given of a library 

 established on the borders, which deserves the attention of all who take an 

 interest in this mode of communicating instruction. A sum was raised by the 

 tradesmen and others of the town, which, with donations of books, procured 

 above 100 volumes. The subscription for reading was a penny a manth, and 

 the second week after this was made public, there were above 100 appli- 

 cants, of wbom about 30 were poor labourers, or solitary females, and a greater 

 number were boys and girls under 14 years of age. Numbers of them had 

 not read two hours in succession for several years before. One agricultural 

 labourer, who had been accustomed to spend his evenings talking with others 

 at the Cross in mild weather, in the smithy at other times, and occasionally 

 in the public-house, as soon as he had access to this library, spent his evenings 

 at home reading aloud to his family, and in a short time his constant presence 

 at home effected a complete reformation in his domestic economy. This man 

 was not given to drink, nor to idleness, nor to any vice, negative or positive, 

 whatever ; he was simply troubled with ennui, and, having neither garden, nor 

 books, was driven to seek such amusement in conversation as he could get. 

 The same individual, when relating this, concluded with the assurance, that 

 " he had heard from others statements similar to that which he had made 

 for himself." {Penny Mag., vol. ii. p. 495.) 



We beg the particular attention of master-gardeners, farm-bailiffs, and 

 land-stewards to the above cheap and easy mode of conferring happiness on 

 hundreds, and producing, in consequence, more contented servants. There 



