PENZANCE extinct among Londoners, he seemed surprised that anything could do well that was far from London. This remoteness is now practically a thing of the past. A rapid railway service to Paddington has made Penzance almost like a suburb of Covent Garden. That railway itself was seriously imperilled by the sea in 1869, when over 600 feet of the viaduct across the beach to Marazion was destroyed. Visitors of all kinds, except those who seek for the music-hall species of entertainment, will find ample attractions at Penzance. The Morrab Gardens, though very small, have a remarkable growth of exotic vegetation, and are a sufficient reason for the town's claim to be a perfect winter-resort. Penzance is in fact cooler than London in the summer, and much warmer in the winter. The fine block of municipal buildings in Alverton Street embraces the admir- ably kept museums of the Natural History and Antiquarian Society, and of the Cornish Royal Geological Society, besides the Guildhall, and St. John's Hall for meetings and entertainments. At Morrab House is the Penzance Library, the largest in Cornwall, comprising 23,000 volumes, many of which are most valuable. It is specially rich in the departments of local anti- quity, Shakespeare, and philology. There are also an excellent little Free Library, a School of Art, Mining and Science Schools. The main thoroughfare is blocked and yet rendered im- posing by the domed market-house, immediately below which stands a statue of Sir Humphry
