that he envied them their trip. 'Well, yes, you know,' said the eldest,
'we've got several introductions; and I hear there are lots of English in
Tokio, so that we are sure to get plenty of tennis.'

There are not many people who are likely to be so frank, not to say dull,
as the Professor's friends; but how many people there are who travel
round the world and see nothing! There is a moral in the story which is
probably applicable to at least half of my readers, more or less.

Of the public buildings, which are scattered in considerable numbers
about the town, the largest are the New Law Courts, which have just been
erected at a cost of £300,000. They contain 130 rooms, and provide
accommodation for the Supreme Court, the County Court, the Insolvent
Court, the Equity Court, and for the various offices of the Crown Law
Department. The plan is that of a quadrangle, with a centre surmounted by
a dome 137 feet high. Still more elaborate and magnificent are the
Parliament Houses not yet completed, the front alone of which is to cost
£180,000. With regard to the architecture of these buildings, there is
ample room for difference of opinion, but everyone will agree to admire
the classic simplicity of the Public Library, erected some twenty years
ago, which is planned with a view to the subsequent erection of a
National Gallery and Museum, to complete a really noble pile of
buildings. And it is well worth while to go inside. The Library is
absolutely free to everybody, contains over 110,000 volumes, and has
accommodation for 600 readers. An interesting feature is the large
newspaper-room, where scores of working-men can be seen reading papers
and magazines from all parts of the world. At the back of the same
building are the painting and sculpture galleries, with which is
connected a school of art and design. Behind these again is a museum. In
the galleries there are a few good modern paintings, and a large number