The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-10-29 00:00:00

LORD STANLEY AT Whiiith4GlON:.

.Ori, Saturday evening, the Mechanics' Institute, at
Warringtoli", held a grand soiree, Colonel Wilson Patten
in the chair. Lord t'tartleY was amongst the invited
guests, and therefore great interest ditaebed to* the pro-
ceedings. The meeting was held at the MusicArall, and
the speech of the evening was -that of Lord Stanley, in
proposing success to Mechanics' Institutions. His lord-
ship, who was received in the most enthusiastic manner,
spolte.to the following; effect :
Lard Stitiatn-x said, after a few prefatory remarks, that
his friend Colonel Patten had asked him to propose a
toast, and it was one iv"hal he hoped they would con-
sider as not unsuited to the occasion which had brought
them together in that room. The object of the meeting,
as' they were aware, was the extension and futanvereent
of the Warrington Mechanics' Institute. It is with that
view (said his lordship) that the present meeting is heid,
and you naturally expect me to say something as to the
:position and prospects of the educational cause in Eng-
land, and especially in these districts. (Applause.)
'Now, in undertaking that duty, I am aware that I' have
'difficulties to encounter, and, as it is best to speak frankly,
,say what they are. (Hear. hear.) The first is, that by the
nature of the case, a speech on education is seldom very
attractive, either, to hear or read : that is due, in fact, to
the importance of the subject. Everybody knows some-
thing about it--everybody has heard or read as much as
they wished—many, especially members of parliament,
have had to hear more than they Wislied=and the con=
sequence is that, when they open the paper,- and ;see a
column •headed " Lbrd or Mr. So-and-so on the subject of
education," nine out of ten turn the .sheet over, and
probably remark that the editor is badly oft for news.
(Laughter.) And secondly, not questions of teach-
ing alone, brit all questions of home administration,
and home concerns occupy at this moment a very sub-
ordinate place in our thoughts. There are momentous
European problems of which the next year or t*et will
see the soliition, and it is only human nature that we
should feel more Coridern iii speculating whether Italy
will be united, whether the Turkish empire will
hold together, whether oar genera:deli is to witness a
repetition of the desolating wars of half a cetitifiy ago,
than we do about the humle and homely affairs of our
own county and parish. Both these things must be so—
I complain of neither. It is well that the topics, which
to men really zealous for the common good offer the
deepest interest, should not lend themselves most easily
to the convenience of those who only want to make
out of them political capital. It is well also for our
ppv`ter and influence abroad, well for safety at home,
whatever other reforms may suffer for the Moment, that
the public; which as a rule Can drily dedilpy itself in
in earnest with One subject at a tithe, slibuld haVe taken
up the pressing question Of military preparation and
defence with a unity and determination of purpose such
as only the older men among us can recollect. Perhaps,
also, the educational cause does not really lose by occu-
pying a less prominent place in man's thoughts than it
held a few years back. We can judge more calmly on
many points formerly involved in controversy, and we
get a little at least of that practical experience,—that
inestimable teaching of facts,—which is worth all the
speculation that was ever spoken out of subtle brains.
(Applause). One or two conclusions appear to be
universally come to. The first is, that under whatever
system we establish primary schools—l mean the
ordinary village schools of the country—‘the parish school
of the town,—whether they are set on foot by clergy; or
landowners, or ratepayers, whether helped by Govern-
ment or left to themselves, very little will be learnt
in those schools by the bulk of those who attend
them, beyond the bare eleMents of instruction—
the power to read, write, and Cypher. That,
in my' mind, is of enormous importance—it
naturally diminishes the consequence which some years
ago used to be ascribed to the system on which these
schools were established, provided only that the masters
be competent, and the discipline well maintained, I care
little for system; my point is to give power of reading,
and give taste for reading. And in the second place,
I think it is generally understood that what we have
most to complain of is not want of attendance at schools,
for generally speaking the proportion of the population
which attend no school is inconsiderable ; but the
irregularity of attendance of those who do go there, the
early age at which they leave, and consequently their
liability to lose, after a few years, even the limited
amount of knowledge they have acquired. If it were
possible to compare the numbers that can read and write
well at seventeen, with that of those who can do the
same at thirty, the falling off would astonish even those
most conversant with the subject. (Applause.) Now
neither the irregular attendance, nor the early leaving,
can be wholly prevented, for both arise out of a feeling
honourable in itself, and with which we should be very
cautious how we meddle: I mean the desire, only less
universal in this country than in America, the desire of
every lad to begin independent life as soon as possible.
and nit tb be a burden on le:_sparents longer than he
can help. (Applause.), We complain sometimes of parents
taking away their children : the children have quite
as much to do with it as the parents. (Hear, hear.)
They feel themselves men, or something like it, from
the day they begin to get their own living. T suppose
there is not a king or ,minister in' Europe, who feels
prouder than does the working lad when he comes home
with his week's wages. (Applause.) Well, but if that
is so--if school life is necessarily short, necessarily inter-
rupted, and if at the same time there is a real
wish for instruction (which there is) among part of the
working class, we are led inevitably to one conclusion,
that there must exist institutions—call them by which
name you will—which shall stand to the ordinary town
or country school in the same relation as the universities
stand to the public schools of England. (Hear, hear.)
Hitherto, the attempts to supply that want have been
many, but they have met with varied and unequal
success. In the larg.e towns they have done pretty well.
If you look to. Manchester, Liverpool, or Leeds, you
will find Mechanics' Institutions flourishing, and really
answering the purpose for which they were set on foot.
I do not think it is a fault that a class comes into them
rather higher than that for which they were originally
intended.. (Hear.) There is no harm in a mixture of
classes—rather the contrary—so that it takes place
naturally and without ostentation; and it is a good thing
that,.while the son of the mechanic is learning, the son
of the tradesman should not be idling. :(Hear, hear, and
applause.) But in general, though supplying a
great
want, and accomplishing much good, they have fallen
short of what was expected and desired by their founders.
The public had not, and could not have, any adequate
guarantee for the value of the teaching given in the
evening classes. Efforts are being made to improve
them in that respect' by various means—chiefly by the
combination of various institutions into one society; so
that competent teachers may be employed, going from
place to place, organising and directing local efforts; and
competition may be established for prizes and certificates
Sufficiently large to ensure the competition being real
That is being tried in East Lancashire and Yorkshire,
and hitherto with marked success ; and at Manchester
also the principle of association is acted on, though with
some difference in details. Another step in advance is,
the establishment of local examinations, such as those of
the Society of Arts, by which young men who have made
more than ordinary progress, will be marked out to the
notice of employers, and enabled to feel that some tan-
gible practical good will come out of the trouble they
have taken. That is most practical—it gives a stimulus
to study, it creates an object, and it shows parents if in-
clined to do ill, that there may really be use in learning..
I am not going to waste your time and my own by a
disputation on the pleasures and advantages of know-
ledge ; that is a topic long ago worn threadbare ; but
one observation I may offer on that head. It is, not
founded on theory, but on such practical experience as
chance has thrown in my way. I' have acted for more
than four years as chairman of the Kirkdale Quarter
Sessions. In that capacity I have tried several hundreds
of cases, of that kind which usually conic before
the inferior tribunals, and nothing has struck me
more forcibly than the stupidity (I can use no
other word)—the utter want of intelligence and com-
mon sense—inability to comprehend consequences which
characterise the vast majority of those who are
brought up for offences against the law. It is quite
the exception to find a criminal whose understanding
Comes up to the average of his class, and it is equally
the exception to find one who is not given to intempe-
rate habits. Surely, from that fact, it is a reasonable
inference, that whatever you do to diminish the tempta-
tions to drunkenness—and idle habits lead more than
anything else to drunken habits—and whatever you do
to increase the intelligence of men, is so much done
towards the diminution of at least the more gross and

vulgar forms of crime—which, bear in mind, axe nume-
rically nine-tenths of the whole. (Hear, hear, and
applause.) It is not the mere power of reading and
writing that will do this; but it is a thoughtful habit of
mind, a wider range of interests and ideas, a habit of
looking to the future as well as to the present—it is the
having some other pleasure than that of physical excite-
ment, and some other matter of thought besides the
daily routine of work, and food, and sleep. Hundreds
have said this before, and will again : but it is truth ;
and, till acted on, truth cannot be told too often. I
turn to local affairs ; and it only remains to congratulate
You on the great exertions which you have made, and
aro making., lit the cause of cduocalon, horo in this town
of Warrington. You have a museum and free library,
not as extensive as they will be, but well supported, I am
told, by all classes, and aided by a rate. You have
schools abundantly sufficient, and amply maintained :
you have a school of art, attended by. one hundred
and seventy members, which, if I may judge by sam-
ples seen, has produced pupils who will do honour
to the town : and you have two institutions working
not in hostility, not in rivalry, but in friendly co.:
operation, one of which is that whose extension we are
now attempting. Of the Mechanics Institution I un-
derstand the state is briefly this. It has met with
various changes of fortune : latterly, its subscribers fell
off, and it almost ceased to be used by working men.
You felt that that was not a satisfactory state of things ;
you determined that it should not continue ; and you
decided on a measure which has at least the merit of
courage. You are now admitting members at a rate of
subscription which is nothing more than nominal, and
which will not cover the working expenses of the
institution. As a temporary . resource, I don't doubt
you are right : it is proved, indeed, by the result ; for
900 members have been added, in the last twelve months,
to 400 who were on the books before ; and there is a
prospect of the number being increased from 1,300 to
between 2,000 and 3,000. What is the first point :
create an interest in the thing; show that it is alive and
doing good ; and you may appeal confidently for support
afterwards. But when matters settle down a little, and
you have placed the Institution on a permanently en-
larged footing, I hope that some means will be found
to render it really self-supporting—and when I say
self-supporting, I mean supported by those who use it,
even if that involves some increase of payments. It is
a.poor business if men, fully employed and w,,il paid,
are not able to keep up an institution establi lird for
themselves without depending on what is, in fact,
charity; and if I know anything of the spirit of working
people in these towns, there is nothing they are more
proud of than their honourable independence, and no
feeling nearer their hearts than that of zeal for the
honour of their class. I hope to hear, in a year or two,
that the Working Men's Institution is maintained,by its
subscribers, and that it no longer stands in need of
casual gifts, or of annual subsidies, to keep it from
dying of want. (Loud applause.)
(said his lordship) I must say inOne thing more
praise of those who
have had the management of the institution. They
have been under great temptations ; but, considering
the former position of the undertaking, they have not
embarassed themselves by sacrificing the future to the
present, and incurring debt. (Hear, hear.) These
temptations they have altogether resisted ; and this mo-
ment, I am told, there is not a shilling of debt upon the
institution. (Applause.) Just one word more, gentle-
men, and then I have done. Whatever you do, or
whatever you leave undone, in this matter, let me en