The Express.
London, England, 1850-06-24 00:00:00

THE ASSOCIATIONS OF WORKING MEN.
THB CITY OF LONDON AND FINSBIART 1114/1/k-
-INIITITIJTES.
A rumour lam hamais(birtg cum. time
past time re Keiliersa• brilegie rilliegt Es
ra age am sop-
pared bp towriting sham ilea a riper b 'regret
with brut It tends to Miner theatre of misrules
frees staledes whisk, is spite rang sad saimrepressetatiee,
have gum ea inermeng in rare% sad, in the anre,
it soy be ailed, ia , le same imusases, ere
the is , or the inethetha is
and its pervortr, it weal he
irligelig
that re et the madly' Barr err t but to eruct
that the patter amber of webers' inelfurtes Ire sup-
ported by tradroinea and their gybe le be raters peskiest
which lams mart by any possible means be brouot to aura
liars. The Landes ingrates an noweisril arranges kr
the use of these who seal to nbstantiese the nuneer
is quashes • bet if these redraft whe are reedy to led
halt
tiewithiet, berm. eaggesting rereake), will take the
to seer kr Wirer inkeratlem to Me of
the Nerthors, /Mead. Lamsairisa, and and
Mises of these Warr theireens eassz
!Midis their speedy seathilladen will ressive a very
seateadistra. The sew d 'errors; with the punka
meeker meshenins' lestkedes is to be traced w the sere-
shoe of their Istrism. It was said that they wield be the
smear ot tram the wicking Mamas sea high latellesteal
esudiren • whereas their taIIISIBM could s* yield tr
hiemllatiel oftadea result. Lard Carlisle, in Ms esprit,
ef cerronsa, at the. merieg qtr. Yorkaire Theism is Itiey.,
Igglt tly ea Oh bead "I real risk,'
said his "that rum • very Weaklier friend et
seerhaalue who should peered that in your
readies rams and lecture-reers, the means went afforded .1
centime el peer member at gage into frishall embolus or
roadprelegifferthees ; or shield say t hat they pet it in your
pawerreeipmp that mires* whisk mess always he the reward
of the tell of the street, or re life leas femur of
the experiretalist. Bet Nit be um object Yew te raise the
Wiling mars of 'or emeatrymen above the range of sordid
err sad low dashes-0o tart were the daily drudgery of
lids with the -antler rases of literature, sad the glowing
wit of ihney—se dere the 15..... of duty sad preastiat
is the most retrushe se web r the most levities toma—
to Phew epos in nos dulled sad Stewed with the irksome
mearmeay of dials daily task-wank the pith resources and the
bausilim prellgality of were—to dignify the present with
thalweg/1 etre per sad the Meier of the future—to make
the germ of egg 'ryas& workshops sad the resstes of
rat seer nrusslstod villages din to ell that is
lLoing es in
the It.ealrese upend them—and, amidst all
ianealitiss of oar varier conditions, toapatiri:ll2
poiTtersl in lir equal darns of iatellsct and of genius;
it these abjure—sad they an neither slight nor
trivisi—if throe objects are worthy of acceptanos
sad approval, I *leak they can be satisfactorily
attested by the mesas which unecluaies"thatitations place at
our disposal, sad it is epos porde such as these that I arge
you to trader to them your encouragement and support."
At the same reseting the Dean of Rpon added his forcible
testimony is the good Meet which them institutions, even
in *sir parr imperfect organisers, have Wright about.
The dean alluded to rue lumber who had recently
seceded from the Ripon Institution. He declared that QIN of
them, a common bricklayer, came to seek for instruction and
the advantages to be derived from the school. Now," said
the dean, be is • person of considerable comfort 'ld stn- '
Wm in Australia. He subscribed 61. for our sew building.'
and states that he ewes all that he has from bane, had an
opportunity of entering our Mechanise' 'millets. Another
mu came in, whose abilities became quickened, his ambition
tuned, and his full purpose of mind meted. Be is now in
mem comfortable circanistaaces in Sweden, and writes
ustianally with a bora fall of gratitude for
the benefits he received. Another individual who
tune into the inetitutiou first got education him-
self; then he became a teacher; afterwards he put himself
forward, until he was made master. Be is now an engineer
in a most important situation, and ruing rapidly in the cone
frets of life. I may jut add two other caul which I think
wen ex.xedingly good they were two poor ' navvies,' who
Male to the institution, after working fourteen hours in
wheeling and labouring at • railway, to learn to read, write,
and to cypher. These men, at ths conclusion of the railway
work, came to the institution, thankedthe secretary for the
kuowledge they had acquired, and for what was of mire
value to them, the habits of sobriety, tesaperaace, and retire-
meat, apart from the evil ways of their companions. They
wan both going to America, and came to take their leave.
One bad saved 801., and the other 1001, These an the prac-
tical every
day events which I believe are taking place in the
bums of oar institutions." While citing these eneouregine
instaans of actual good wrought, it is as well to aote that
they are only rare exceptions. It would be a wilful
'misstatement of probability were artisans lured to the
Wantons by certain promises of that advancement which
the worthy dean cites for their encouragement. These
instances are the best effect, not the general effect. But,
setting said. all consideration of advancement in physical
comfort, allowing that attendance at • mechanics' institute
does not actually place the artisan in a better physical posi-
tion then he held before he became • member, that suck
&module does not actually Mariam his value u • labiurer,
does it not elevate him as a man ? It is something tot alto-
gether worthless to learn faith in the dignity of labour, to
become acquainted with the exact sciences (if only with their
elements), to imbibe pure and noble tenements, and to take
downs in political and social economy. These tangible at
Tutees ars within the reach of every steady workouts':
by making use of them he may improve his morel being and
contract three habits of timpanists which will enate'e him
to economise the traits of his labour. I cannot close my
observations on this head, without referring to an
instance recently recorded by the delegate of the
Whitby Mechanics' Institute, at a late muting
of the Yorkshire Union. "As an instance of the
good done by these mesas (the institutes) he might
mention that • number of his institute had remedy made a
discovery in optic*, which Professor Simms, of Loadon, bad
tamed and prorionneed to be of great value, and whisk
would probably be patented. Robert Stephenron. Esq.,
their member, had taken this young man by the hand."
The City of London Mechanics' !unitive, established in
1836, is utuate in Gould-square, Crotched-friars. It is
neither so large nor .o powerful a society as it, ,prototype of
Chancery lane. The institute is a sufficieotly commodious
holm. It is outs Man des* architectural pretensions, and is
fitted up without much regard to ornament, but with a view
to the convenient, of members. The subscription is 2s. 64.
per quarter. For this sum the subscriber has acme to a
well-selected library of upwards of 3,003 volumes; the
ass of • museum and cheered laboratory; • reading
room supplied with the daisy, weekly, and monthly pen-
Micah, and is entitled to an admission for himself' and
friend to the weekly lecture. A subscription of 7s. 6d. per
quarter will entitle the subacribee to all the advantages the
institution affords—except the dancing clue. These extra
advantages consist of classes, seder competent masters. for
the study of elocution, English grammar, French and Ger-
man, writing and arithmetic, mathematics, geometry, geo-
graphy, chemistry, botany, instrumental music, discussion,
and literary composition. As few mechanics would venture
to enter upon all these studies at once, the authorities have
wisely arranged a stale of charges for each branch of instrue-
doe t—Thus the subscription to the writing and arithmetic
ekes under Mr. Roessler is eighteenpence per quarter; for
the phonetic clue, one shilling per quarter; for the Hermon
class, two shillings per quarter; for the French class, four
shillings per quarter; for elocutioe, one shilling per quarter;
for chemistry, two shillings per quarter • for violin, three
shillings per quarter, and so on. In this way the wants of
very poor men are met; and the consequence is that working
men gather about the institute and support it.
The syllabus of lectures which I have before me, though
superior to that of As Lorca Mechanics' Institute, is not
as practical, that is to say u metal as it might and should
be. The four first "lectures" which are announced, ere
raiding" from Shasissar• ; next follow two lecture on "the
Skin " and " Bathing ;" then a lecture on " Columbus and
the Discovery of Amenea," followed by one on " the Lite
and Grins of Sir William Ines" These are followed by
me lowers oe " The Exhibition of the Works of Industry
of all Nations in 1&51," and "An Entertaiament.' Of
this list the only lecture that strictly applies to the condition
of working men is that on the forthcoming 'Wichita& There
no possible objection to the other lectures says that the
sand in lieu of more appropriate subjects. It would
be folly to object to a diffusion of the kisowledee
of Shakspeue, or to a gourd acquaintance with the perils
and achievements of Columbus, and the writings of Sir
William Jones; and the lectures on bathing and the skin an
important, but they should be interspersed with ezplana-
tioas of theories and matter* pertaining to the arts and
miner which bear upon the handicraft, of the majority of
ambers. The carpenter who constructs loans will eer-
telaly prods by an iminaintanoe with ths process of weaving
ia all its branches; and the weaver, by learning • theory of
colouring sad the processes of dyeiag, will gain something
to hie 'draws,. A study of all practical arts, in short, is
of vast importance to the artisan, whether relating directly
to his particular labour or not. Thus, such • lecture as the
fellowlag description indicates is precisely that which I should
recoareed the authorities of mechanics' institutes to keep
is view es • sample of an entertainment at once useful and
Jaime leg:
"On next, Mr.
amuse of four lactures on the gotten trade ais I manufacture,
including the processes of bleaching, dyeing, and calms
piloting, to be illasuated by a series of woekine models of
the most improved machines used in the manafasture of
mums cloth, sad the different nisoulacturing processes gone
duos& systematically from the raw cotton to the loess.
leas this purples the series of working models will be set ter
motion by steam power, and the operettas' popularly en
. These machines consist of-1, Blowing frame;
14,1td
di mg engin. ; 3, drawing trams; 4, roving frame;
6, trestle trims ; 8, solluethu male; 7, doubling frame ;
8, warping mill ; 9, sines sisis; 10, power loom ; 11,
cylinder 'Mica printing 11/11Makee; 12, • portable stern
arias. Together with=griate appetites for illus-
trating the preseem of 4141•11. ItelAiisg."
The e Nashamierf Imadaadwa, situated la Com-
, meroiel-pinso, Is baler rigeol le the require-