178 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE VICTORIA INSTITUTE. 
Chronicle, the Editor of which at that time was a gentleman of 
great literary attainments and of broad and liberal and patriotic 
views. Subscribers oaly were formerly admitted to the library, 
as a reference to my paper will show ; and it was on account of 
the statements and arguments in my Paper that it was opened 
freely to the public. But in urging the free opening of the 
Library I recorded my objection to the abuse of that Institution 
tor the purpose of purveying Fiction. The true function of a 
pu lie library is to afford to students means of access to works 
they could not otherwise obtain. One obscure and despised 
student who makes use of the library may, as the result of hie 
Soon COn iTnnn n nn S mP 011 the 0o,llmurlit y worth pecuniarily 
ff^knn 0 ! I £1 °?’ 000 ' T Studj ° f science ^d the cultivation 
o 3 ; a 7 ayS , C T, duCe to the wealth the community 
2adi£ t fi 0f he 1 udent: bufc no amount of Novel 
in I 8 '.”' "f * h »t I«carcely ever .el toot 
~ « “e Kbr V,” e“„: * h ‘, t “ V’“ 1 '“" ot “ k ” 
present adapted chief ! v tn tl r ^ment and organization is at 
a shilling amonth AiS Fiction to those who pay 
arrangements at the British \i ' P er 1 have in view the 
for some years a ReaderWad thT™ l ^ R 00,11 (where I was 
libraries whose arran 'enl T ° f ° tller Scientific and Public 
the student. ts are designed primarily to facilitate 
with the Library for pu'rvevin' f N^ that * ' vhile 1 find 
get novels for inyaett. T Vr? N °J eh) 1 take ^vantage of it to 
allegation — but I can sav that an £ S reat force in this 
and certainly not for my own n }’ get Novels as a subscriber 
matters in which one has to go with the f ^ is ° ne ° f tbe 
s own private views. The ™ stream irrespective of 
Whisky are pernicious or not^s one “ t0 Aether Novels and 
much divided. But supposing that I Which «Pimons are 
■does not follow that itTr “ht thl the ^ of each, it 
S t0 , the SU PP’y of such arLcSs Vov IC m ° ne >' sh ould be 
i , a s uoh as subscribe to the Librn v ^ are cbea P enough 
or otl y ,n . terc hange (which could easilv°V tbera for them- 
otherwise) it would be possible to secure tb! man , a S ed b J olubs 
e reading of a very 
