The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-07-09 00:00:00

LONDON MECTIANWS. IXS2I2"UTIO4V.

Yonerday evening the new Lecture Renal of the losoulon Me-
aintes lnstitu•lon was opened for the first time. It is situated in

gmeltunptoc-beilitiogs, amt ill. Wit:101 n short time been prepared
fur the purpmea of the Institution. Though spacious, and well

aalwlated t; afford

it vs% on this °cession rues-

'lively crowded. There were present his Royal Ilighnem the Duke
of Sasser, the Marquis of lentolown, sir Robert Wilann, Ilr.
Brougham, Sir Peter !Annie, Alderman ‘Vootl, Mr. Hume.
Shortly after half-past eight o'clock. Doctor 11111K•ECI ap..
reared in the place appointed for the Lecturer. and addressed the
men hers then intiennbled as followa r—Amorgat the splendid
events which at this avoinehing pegind oectir with rapid succession,
to exhilirate, enceurege, and ersvigoritte the ricotta of human inn
preivement, the present hone exhihits one of the moat prominent
and distinguished. We hare now antertibled to witness the first
application, inn comp'ete form, of a vast arrangement, for
giving effective accommlation to rilearttres, which are des-
tined to fertilise a wilderness of intellect—mm.4lre. which
well et:whine hereafter the power of education, wielded by
man with the power of genii's, conferred neon man by his
benevolent and o...nilpotent anther. ft will be universally
admitted that we live, physically aptaking, in a world of
wonders; and by him who has sttioloualy contemplated the
&erect and the achieveninnts of mind, it will be no less freely
anmitteel, that mentally speaking. wa live in • world of
ponders also. But had it been consistent with the general
order and erring: anent, t• cultivation of wand should have
been uniTertai. wetted it having been confined within certain
pr.% 'demi. but perhaps neceasary, and therefore unavoidable li•
mina it is impontible to ototiounce to what extent the wonders of
',tele-nal creation 'nicht, re this, hive mucceded. That intel-
lect %hitt, OntWinnitly tIVI• nig through the barrier of surround-
IN difficulties, like the beams of heaven gi immering through the
n :mesa of the storm, shed its brightness on a few favoured
Lpota ag
antidat the general eaten, ins!-ad of pouring out a find of
Debt, like the orb of day, when through n elnitilleta &v.. it blaae%
wish moldier' spletulour.," The Spit its of finowledge, dune bril-
liant point dlmernoil in t-: • .rock of oar species t those fertile noses
in the aide-spreading dee - • , forming the niase of human exist.
gees, have served but to e tier the long period of darkness more I
risible, end the seat reg 'Jr.:: of berrennes. more conspicuous. 141
"ham master ;spirits, it n ty, indeed, be 'l4l. that as to their occur.
once, they are like angtf-vialte, ss (CA' and far between." But man
himself, it ought not to be forgotten, haa, for various reasons,
to Amer every intim!. strongly exerted his efforts to arrest
or eircutawribe the development of mind. In all ages there have
emlated some intlividaale who Imre doulned the utility of instruct.
i-g 'emit in literature and sciene^, and others, posaessing power,
who, pentium., without entertainir g the same doubts, have resisted
the programs of knowledge. Thus Ellen states, that, in his time,
letters were con-Jame weirs or incurious; them the Romans
treated ignominom.'y Grecian literature. though they afterwards
atoned for this btutality by emulating the pre-eminence of the
Greeks in the rtrablie of letters. In like manner, when the bar.
banana over-ran the Roman Empire, which had been already
ruined by eon-rests and luxury, and all their ennscquert evils,
they Imputed the preflir,racy and wearees of the co/maned to
their literary education. his ill-founded opinion, prejudice I
ought rather to call it, wand, the Gothic arms advanced, and he.
tune or:net:it:fled he the surerior discipline and sneers of the con.
011017n1. At hut ignorance Isecarne so univental, that Ilerbaud,
the supreme judge of the empire in the 9,11 century, could not
write his name; end even I/u Cut-actin, the first personage in'
France in the 14th century, one, aceraiing to Pal:aim equally illi-
terate. This state of intellectual darkness hat been not noire- j
leanly, in vario is countries, protected, and prolonged, by the
excrete of the powers which ought to have promoted their advance-
ment in knowledge. Thus the English Barons petitioned Richard
the Second, that ro villager. as the labourer was then denominateal,
ahoate be rawmitied to rend his eon to school : and in Peru, as we
leen from the stateir.ent of flarcilaaso Della Vega, that it was tm-
lawful for one, not noble, to study. In the reign of Henry the
Eighth. also, a Bill was tendeml by both Houses of Parliament
to the Kirg, to prevent most cif the laity from rea hog the St rip-
cures. Among the Turks, a circumstance wbieh cannot create any
surprise, the art of printing, we are told b. Rican " is rthenhitely
prohibited.. because it may give a oettioning to that subtlety of
learning, which is dangerous to their government." And in other
countries. governed in a similar manner, especially where gross
superatition has likewise prevailed. init;edintenta of a similar
nature have been discovered. But in all these occurrences there
ie nothing to eselee nor surprise. comparable wi:h the sentiments
of the lam Mr. Crinmhoun, once the Chief Magistrate of the
nowt imps rtart commercial city of Scotland, of which he was a
native ; and aware, it might therefore be supposed, of the pecu-
liar exceilencies of hie countrymen. which, with scarcely a dis-
:evident voice, have been ascribed to the extensive diffusion of edu-
cation. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Mr. Colquhoun
(rehab!, beat membered as the amber of a treatise on the l'olice
of the Metro;oilis), whilst occupying a seat amongst the Magistrates ;
of this great and flourishing city, in a inset on Indigence, has!
uttered them words:—" It is the interest of every ration' that the;
people should be victim e% and well-disposed ; hut seleree and
learning, if universally diffused, would speedily overturn the best
constituted CO'. zmanent on earth." And to show that it is not to
the more refined descriptions of knowledge merely. that his objee-
elons crply, an assertion advanced in another pamphlet, on the sub-
ject of alma. ion, tray be quotal :—" Utopian ((climes for an
extensive difilision of knowledge (lie says ), witlicat specifying any
portion of it, *mild be injurious or abrurd." To enter into a for. :
;nal refutation of run opinion which has experienced an almost total ;
exclusion from the mind% of this enlightened period, would he to i;
contend against the shadow of a shade. I cannot avoid remarkinm ;
!amerce, in regent to Mr. ('oleilioun's opinion, of the texture sad'
stability of the best Gorerranent on earth, that I believe it to be j
eidodly false; and that it contains a libel, snore gross, than in
the earns number of words, or in any number of words, however
large, the greatest libeller of good Governments, whether punished i
or unpunished, has ever yet contrived to utter. (Loud cheers.);
From this picture we now turn to look upon that which the wise
and rohle spirit of them later times enables me to delineate. Ilia I
late Majesty, whose long eventful reign has now become the sub. I
jeer of the historian, will, in the most distant ages, I hesitate not to
predict, be gratefully remembered for the liberal feelings with which
he patronl.ed and actively promoted the extension of (lineation ,
and his Ceti " that every child in his dominions should be able
to read the Bible," will remain an imperishable record of the Round-
real of his understanding anti the excellence of hi* !mart. (Cheers.)
'The Monarch now stated on the throne of :his great Empire, I feel,
a one of his subjects, rectifier gratification and pride in declaring,
Ins manifest. (1 the same exalted liberality. By the honours which he
I as already bestowed upon some of the most successful cultivators
oh icience, of literature, and ofthe arm—upon a Scott, a Law-
mice. arc a Davy.—he has conferred a: signal lustre upon himself
and upon the nation' as well as upon then:. Ilia regal bounty also,
ethic!' has often flowed in a more substantial. mid for many pur-
poses, in a more eficetuatTorni, has displayed by its extent, no com-
mon interest in the advancement of the great entl!C of universal
ethacation. (Cheers.) But of the instances rat ptincely regard
which the friend% of our country and of education have with canna-
lion to recur i, the most dittingtueleed has been afforded by the
tricres indMititial who honours us with his presence upon this occa-
igen. (Loud and continued chimera) I will rot permit myself tn
speak of him in those terms which general opinion would authorize
me to employ. In cause I should become liable to the charge of pre-
samption, and I might also encounter a suanition which I ant at
all times most desirous to avoid. I may, however, be al-
lined to acknowledge the gratification which we have re-
tched from the kind and warm interest whiehi hit Royal
Itighnets has taken in our proceedings, from the fleet moment
teat they were made known to him ; tired for the eondemending
taanner in which he has repeatedly expressed his anxious desire
pemunally to witness those proetedings. ( Loud cheers.) This, in.
deed, might hate been confidently anticipated ; for very few al
the Trammels great attempts which have been made within the
r-,t quarter of the nineteenth century, to dintinielt the wards and
alleviate the suffering% of min, Of to increase Ilia stove of know- i
ledge, have ken unaided by the steady, zealous, and eloquent sup-
tent of the Duke of StIVIt3I. Entering, nith unahrinkirg
thy, into the Wants anti misfortune. of his fellow-creatures, he has
scidoni failed 'robe at hand (loud cheers)
s' Wherertr man and misery arc found."
Of a similar admirable spirit prevailing amongst the Nnltlea
or the land, we have recently lad many proofs. The distin-
g.i:sli.ni (louse of Bedford, through several of itt branches, has
l ens powerful auxiliary to this dignified (muse; and the lifitrlala
or 1 at•sdosn, the honour of whose presence we have maw to Rt.
owlodge (cheers), one of whose ancestors powerfully urged the
for adopting a more general system of etitteatior --as Pee-
t: tent of the Infant School-Society, and as Patron of a District In-
stitution, similar to our own, as well as by many other means, has
"reedy centribund to the attainment of this important purpose.
Ammon the Spiritual I.orda, it is impossible to overtrick the vener-
shit Bishop of Norwich, who thus concludes a letter in which he
'rile:glees on the score of age, for his absence from a recent bite-
restive; public meeting, •• leery man who peas at heart either private
danpineas or public prosperity, must be a friend to the rause of uni-
7ental etineatinn.' There are several Senators, likewim, to whom
:I.; cause of education in general, as well as our particular
mime, stands l'esply indebted, whom. If titre permitted, I
....inltt with pleasure enumerate. To Sir Francis Burdett. the
er.at philanthropist and the consistent advocate of human free.
dim. we owe many. very many acknowledgments, ferthelhighly
retraceable opinion which lie has expreised of our undertaking. and
for the munificence with which lie has confirmed that opinion. I Loud
cheers). Tom. y Learned and distinguished Friend, Mr. Brougham,
for the early, ineemeent, and irresistible energy with which he Ina, in
every direction, adroented and extended the measures fur arrom.
Pllshing the scientific education of the artizan, we, along with the
whole nation, have incurred • large debt of gratitude. (bond divers.)
Befure the demorstretive power of hia gigantic mind Opposition has
Crumbled into dna!, and hi. valuable •• Premien, Observations"
hate so tree:l:l'y confirmed tile wavering, and instructed the
Ignorant, and ta :meted the lukewarm, that lnstittrior.a similar to
cur own have rapidly sprung up. in nunitters far exceeding all
calculation, and in itlacco where their existence could least have
brim anticipatm.l. In the formation or schools for imputing the
umplt rudiments or knowledge to the infant. as well as in the
establishments which give infuriation to )ruulu and to ranhood.
iris csoaciota mind is unremittingly occupied • and Oh i•-ii th
liar red the Semite number
their
ahrimileambongst. the. most activie., laboe-
riju_l%
ona". eilii"hoi!nedor shone,
In era) set they who mark his
Zerlont.t. leers f education would conclude that Infant
, I Imnenatertan School's, Mechanics' Institutions, anti
nondon linen palaces his undivided time and attention.
(Loud applause) Nothieg too minute, nothing too roar, or toe
ninon to be eteniprehended within his wontlentis orbit. Andcon
teTni'lleing, as I often (In, with silr it admiration, the iittelleetilai
meg:Choi • by which he is rendered e mapiettoua anteing mankind—
ard the wassit nal clouds raised by envy and malignity in theirs
unavailing attempts to obscure hisbrightness—and the splendid
in
halo which, it records writ by fsny," must encircle his metntry

—I am elrongly ?minded of a aubligee %S mile, recently and most
appropriately applied by hies to another adhject—
" As some tall cliff, which lifts its awful form.
Swells from the vale, and midway heaves the storm s'
Though rottml its breast the rolling clouds are '
Eternal sunshine settle, on its head." (Deaf
e ranias
al
mal
With all this array of rank, of talent, and of power
ets,F4,,
education, its benefits in the way of practical improvements,*
be ennferreff; such at least is the inference from the palm semi:
what slowly and successively. Even in the great dispensations of
!leaven, so essential to the direction and guvernment of mankind,
the same rule has been apparent ; they have nut been conitintni,
cited at once, and even the moat important hare been for niady
=limed or withheld. In the moue scattered manner, and at
Intervals, have discovery and invention always pmeeeded.
Tweed of so occurring. as at once, in the highest degree to bless
'mankind, the mariner's compass, gitomowdera-a negative blessing,
like it. counterpart the steammnoti—the art of printing, the steam. en-
gine, the eufety-lamp, and the like. were made known in succession.
1 In the same manner the greatest benefactors of their specie% were
created in times remote from each other, according to them eslgen-
; rim manifested to the inscrutable mind of Omniscience, in puma.
ing the wise and benevolent purposes of his government. Thix pro-
cedure has been an be rutifull v delineated by Dr. Southwood Smith,
in his ' Illustration, of the Divine Government," that I shall take
'the liberty of miming the passage with but little abridgement :
'' Suppose it is the will of OA to lead men to the discovery of the
most intereejeg iintilS respecting the phenomenon! nature, and the
laws by which the unkeree is governed ; he endows an individual
with a clear and capscioux mind ; he lead. him to observe, to re-
flect, to investigate; he form% him to those Imitate of patient and
ponfaund inqiiiry which are necessary to elicit the truths to be
disclosed, and sefficient to secure him from every temptation to
carelessness and diesipasion ; lie raises up a Newtom Suppose that
at length he determines to lead back the minds of men to purer
sentiment% respecting his own chatacter, government, and wools
ship, and to overthrow those corrupt systems of religion which have
prevailed for ages. lie mime up an individual, whose mind he en-
lightens, whom 'mil he tills with an ardent zeal for the simplicity
of its rites ; who. though cities and empires anti against him, and
nne general cry of exectation and menace tollows hint (rum land to
land, goes on with undaunted courage to empire abuses, and to
call, in a louder and louder voice, for reformation—it is the
voice of Luther, which makes corruption rage and superstition)
tremble. Sup muse it is his will insure a people in love with liberty,
and worthy, because nimble, of erjnying it, front oppression,
and its exhibit to the world an example cat what the weak, who
are S.TtUOO3 and united, may effect &gooiest the strong, who are
corrupt end tyrannical—in the very mein when he is needed, he
foams, and in the very statist where his presence u necessary, lie
pima a Washington. And suppose it is his will too pour the balm I
of consolation into the wounded heart, to visit the captive with
solace, to extend niercy to tile poor prisoner, to el 11l i l into his
noisome ell the cheering beano. of his sun and his refuelling
beam*, he breathe% the spirit or philanthropy into some chosen
boson), he viiperadds an energy which neither the frown of power
nor the menace at' interest, nor the scorn of inelifTerence can abate,
which exhibits so strongly to the .iew• of men, the horrors of a
dungeon, as to force them to %impend for a while their business and
their pleasure., to feel for the %tittering' of others, and to learn the
great lesions that the guilty were still their brethren, end that it
is better to reclaim titan to deatma ; he gives to a euffering world
' the angel spi•it of a Howard," Thus, whilst we dare not venture,
instractest by the pass, to flatter you with time hope that the sys-
tem of scientific education to be here pursued. and the system-
atic application of science to the ems, which will be here un-
ceasingly displayed, will suddenly inimoduce numerous momen-
tous improvements, we cannot, of cat:sequence. venture to pro-
mise that wealth and happiness in such abut dance se rosy 'satisfy
the ardent desire of man for both, will rapidly result from this
important protect. Vie wish only to be understood tit main.
rain the position so inimitably expressed by our excellent friend
and auditor, dlr. John Smith, "that in proportion as men are"
rendered intelligent. they will become prosperous, virtuous, and
hem." (Applause 1 The large and sudden ncquisit ion% of
wenbli, which have sometimes occurred. I need scarcely remind you, I
hare seldom been observed to bless, seldom even to benefit, their pos.
manors. Fortunate, as the ?meld is a-cummen unthinkingly to term
them, they are, in reality, like Sinbad in the Valley of Diamonds,
walking amidst wealth, lent root at all comfortable. (Laughter.) Nor
do we profess to banish poverty from those communities, with which
our projects mar be mingled. Improvidence. and the unavoidable
casualties attaching to our earthly allotment, willlonm if not for ever,
maintain great inequaluies of condition. and place one portion
of the armies in painful demi-mime upon entailer. Ve have
been sufficiently apprised, that the destiny assigned by tile Gad
of Nature, even to the Land of Promise. is one which expressly
includes, the certainty of indigence. " In vain," says sit elo-
quent Divine, in reference to this subject, '• do all the rowers
of human sagacity commit* with the energies of pious benevo-
lence,to banish this spectre from the world. Expelled from
otie quarter, it instantly rises in another. It scowls in mockery
upon all the
.lahours of legislation—it haunts ell the dream% of
philanthropy—it saddens even the meditations of piety. While
we are framing projects for the improvement and comfort of the
ahuman race, it stands by with a sepulchral pall, and threatens
to spread over our designs the plague of confusion—to clothe
our heavens with darkness, and to make sackcloth our cover.
ing." To the preservation of health, unquestionably one of the
essential ingredients in the cup of happiness, we shall, I truer, by
this expedient, somewhat largely contribute : indirectly, by the
substitunon of improved halm.. and directly, by protectinj the
operative chymist, mechanic, and labourer, against the pernic.otts
Influence of various noxious agents, and against the destructive
exertions which mechanical process, compel. slimly easy, may
supersede. Already something has been achieved within these ;
walls, for the safety of doe thy:lnca! artificer ; since, in the apace
which you now occupy, effectual, because conclusive, experiments
were omelette-I with toe apparent.' of Roberts, the ingenious miner.
Upon the evidence of these experiments the Society of Art% granted
their liberal reward; and. on presenting thus reward, our illustrious
skitor, who so ably presides over that society, emphatically declared,
that it was calculated, " to rare thousands of lives and million, of
property ;" thus most impressively and extensively promulgating
its excellence. Of the poesibiloy, by mechanical contrivance,
of preventing the labourer working out his own dettruction
1 shall only mention one example, furnished by the coal-heavers or
coal.whippers, who ply their self-murderous trade upon the River
Thames. Gangs, as they are called, of human beings, belonging
Ito a civilized country, suspend themselves at the end of a rope,
in order that their *eight, as it descends, may raise another
weight attached to the other end. Four sweating toolm—(l.augh.
ter.)--adapting to one own purpose the unceremonious lan-
Fuage of Dr. Johnson, when describing the amusement of fish-
tog—dangling together at ore end of a line, and a basket of
coals at the other. (Loud Laughter.) Immortal man engaged iu
counterpoising a coal-basket ! It cannot surely be inueli longer
endured in an inquiring end an inventive age, that upwards of
three thousand men should be permitted to destroy themselves, for
want of intermediate machinery, by excessive exertions, and the
influence of those nnachievous agents, by which they are stimulated
to endure it. With all our contrivance, however, we cannot shield
" ourselves against" the arrow which Meth in darkness ;" but if
we are exposed only to the natural wear ;and tear of our curious
fabric, the ills to which flesh is strictly heir, life will steal on
with unperceived decay ; anti one journey through the Valley of
the Shadow of Deith will terminate without its frequently
accompanying horrors ; the transition, again becoming so gen-
tle, as to Omit. when it 'occurs, of the rmintmduction of the
primers( phrases-•' Ile slept with his fathers." ( A pplause).
Diming contemplated the career of improvement. with the mast
sanguine expectation,' as to its results, I could, with great delight,
place before you an ample ittquiry into the future condition and
destiny of man. I am compelled, however, by a recollection of the
time which I have already occupied. in a great measure, to desist
from this cheering investigation. Tile voice of prophecy, which
has long been silent, is not, as in the infancy of-human existence,
now required ; the voice of experience will enable us " to learn
the future by the past, of nun. I will, notwithmanding, so far
advert to the coming in of time, as to reitinrk that the diffusion of
the accumulated wisdom of ages through the uncultivated regions
of ill-fated Africa, with the dispersion of our highly instructed
operative merit:mice, whin, delivered from the bondage of ancient 1. -
gislation, happily now hare the world
" All bet' rs them. where to choose
Their place of rest. and Providence their guide."
will, T believe, soon entire the generous hopes expressed by Mr.
Breughant respect! ng that country. in his treat me net Colonial
Policy. "The vast continent of Africa will keep pace with the
rai.e! impeovement of the world which site has peopled i and in
regions where. as yet, the war-whoop, the lash, and the cries
of misery, have divided with the beasts the silence of the desert,
star children, and the children of our slaves. nom' erjoy the
delightful prospect of that benign and splendid reign, which is
amercieed be the arts, the sciences, and the virtues, of modern
Erne." And by the unrestricted intercourse which modern
commerce enjoys, rendering the superior attainments of one
' meontey transferable to another which does not possess them, the
" frightful solitude% of the Western World will become people! with
1 activity and geeing. Scenes such as have been described in the
promising republic of Colombia, by the elegant pen oh, the philoso-
phical traveller, Humboldt, will then no longer be found. " In
America, after having lived," says he, "Miring several years in the
forests of the low regions, or on the ridge of the Cordilleras—after
having surveyed comitries as extonaive as France. containing only a
small number of mattered huts, a deep solitude no longer affrights the
imagination. We become scans rimed bathe idea of a world, that sup.
ports only plants and animate; where the savage had never uttered ei-
ther the shout of jay, or the plaintive accent of sorrow.""The treasures
of knowledge being that li hmlly dimeminated through the world,
from Zembla to the Line, countless multitude% will mackly be-
come reflecting and intelligent • and a new era in the hietory colour
species sill appear, distinguished by the love of peace, the love of
order, the Mee of knowledge, and the love of virtue. Freedom,
prosperity, and happiaces, will he the great and universal rewards
of this amelioration, and travelling oil from perfection to Ferree-
don, man will at length, however remote the period, justify the de-
claration, that he is
" half dust—helf Deity."
(Load end continued applause.)
'lr. Bunt:6llAM then approached the place from which Doctor
Pirkbeck had addressed the meeting, and said that he wished to add
a few words, were it only to discharge the debt of gratitude which
they owed to their founder and trientl, !le would indeed add but a
few weeds to dm most interesting and impressive statement which
they had that night heard, end in doing so, he would assign to
them reasons why he, rather than Ins worthy and learned Friend,
should be the person 111 offer to them those tew short observations.
IVith the single exception of what his excellent Friend had said ca
him (" No, no"), every word he had uttered was most just and
appropriate. In the well-dmerved eulogiums which he pronounced
on the friends of that Institution, from the highest to the higher,
and down to the humblest amongst them, he had mule one omis-
%ion, which was most important ; for if there here one obligation
more than another which called for marked, he had almost said
Woundless gratituae, it was that which they owed to tho Doctor

bimeelf.—ohligatione to out of all campariane with the utmost dem!
others could have done, as not to be spoken of tin the same day
and he felt a slued that in using! lowans that excellent benefactor
Of theirs the language which he did, he went no further than to give
txpreesion to the feeling, and the sentiments which animated every
bosom in that aysentbly. It was impossible for any language, how.
OM powerful, to do full justice to the debt they owed him, and he
MONsei it was such as never should be forgotten ; and it was not
eat alone who were so his debtors, the whole of his countrymen
wise ender east obligations to the same mom. Ile would then
apply to Br. Birkbeek theadmirebleepitaph written upon Sir Chris.
toptur Wren. " If yon seek his monument, look around," foe
there they comild behold whnt be hail created. first he (Dr. B.)
was the orieinal anther of Mechanic.s' Institutions, Libraries, Lee.
tures, or by whatever name they are generally designated. It was
with him they commenced, and to him the country at large was in-
debted fur their establishment. Next, in addition is the debt
which they, in common with the red of their countrymen, owed
'him for dint mighty boon, they were under to him a sepa-
rate obligation for having been the chief agent in cant.
bushing the Loetlon Mechanic.' Institution; and heady, when
he, in the Nine's of teal and attachmenr, after having fixed on a
firm tenths the establishment of their Institution, grew impatient of
the slow progress of a general subscription, came forward, and
out of his own means, at his own expense, prepared for their use
the edifice in which they were then nmemenibled—tor that commo. '
thou% tip:mimes, elegant lecture room they were indebted to their
President. (Applattee.) Ile trusted that before long the rich re- j
want of such liberal and enlightened zeal would be paid in the j
quarter where it was an justly and so truly merited. Hardly a
Fear end a half had elapsed since lie had commenced his labours
in this metropolis, And such as they had then witnessed were the
results of his eucceitsful exertions. Scarcely a quarter of a century '
Iced elapsed—and such was a short apace ender the eircumatances—
since those associations hal their origia in Scotland, and now the
whole country abounded with them. They had been Ovine! and
I went flourishing every where—everywhere spreading the light of
knowledge. That the advantages of such institutions !should be as
' widely as possible understood and disseminated, he had written
and circulated a small tract upon the subject, explaining in a
simple, ineeleaible, and cheap form, the nature and objects
of such associations, and he would, from a single instance,
give them en idea of the success which had attended his
labours. In one village on the Scottish border, containing
' not shove six hundred nr seven hundred inhabitants, no less than
between three and four hundred ODpies of his little tract Wall been
taken. In lumber evidence of due extent to which the teller towns !
and cities of the empire sympathised in theTeelings by which they
were animated, he could Inform them that scarcely a day pressed in
which he did riot receive three or four communication:, announcing'
the increasing spread of ktinwledee through the means which they
had adopted. Ile lind made a calculation, and he had the greatest.
eatisfaction in announcing to them, that since the month of
January last not lees than thirty-three Mechanics' Institutions'
had arisen in different places. In Liverpool and in Birming..
ham they had been estsbliehed, and that was matter of but very
little surprise. for it was almost a thing of course that places
of that stamp and character should be thrward in the great
work; but he had to announce to them the accession not only
of • great but an idle city—one WiliCil had been heretofore
nothing more than a place of resin to the invalid or of
amusement to the lounger—dint phase, Bath, could now boast
of a Mechanic? !rstitution, founded on the truest principles,
and proceeding with the brightest prospects of success. As he ban
already said, it was quite a matter of course that Liverpool should
have established an Institution for her numerous mechanics, but
Birmiaghatti was unaccountably late in eamineneing the glorious
work. Birmingham was of all others peculiarly the place where!
mt Rli an esteblisliment ought bed to thrive and fleurish—
there was panicelarly the soil from which they might early I
have expected a rank and exuberant crop ; for, including \Vol.!
, vcrliampion and other towns within a diameter of ten or twelve
miles, with a population of very many thnusand souls, he )
should have supposed there was no place whates. r so likely to be
distinguished for its Mechanics' institutions; such, however, was
unaccountably not the fact ; strange to say, Birmingham instead of
being amongst the foremost, which WAS its natural place. was-
really amongst the last where they might leant to have expected to I
find it. For this he thought those who ought to have been promi.
nent in advancing such a work were called on to explain its delay,
and now vigorously to set about repairing the deficiency. lle
nested that if any Birmingham ninn heard him, lie would convey
to his fellow townsmen the necessity they now were under
of working double tides. Ile teem acquainted with most
of the great master manufacturers of thrust town, and he felt
bound to bear testimony to their high character, but he thought
that they deserved to be chided for having been so tardy in follow.
ing the noble example set them elsewhere, and that to make up ens
lost time it became them to work double tides at the least. The'
old !reel im said, that that which was given quickly ant twice
given; lie wetild therefore say that what was done late was but
, half done ; therefore, so far from contend.); themselves with much
exertions as might have sufficed at an earlier refine, they mid
not perform their bare duty with lees than doubled efforts. In
making these observations be wan not withent having other towns
in his eye, but Sheffield was not one of those, for that town could
boast of possessing 31entgomery. At Leeds, vet, much had been
done, and it was peculiarly gratifying to see, that there and else-
where those who differed in other points agreed in that one—that it
formed a bond of union and of kindly feelings between men up.
posed to each other both in religion and In politics. lie would not
name the miter towns which, like Birmingham, had remained un-
influenced by the great end glorious example of tire metropolis, and
those places where inftitntione layettes establiebett. In review..
big the present circumstances and future prospects of those ...see.
&done. he could not hut indulge expectations of the most extensive
bench to mete When in Littler they should labour—not as they had
heretofore done, in ignorance of the principles of their art—it was
sot being too sanguine to anticipate a rich harvest in requital of
their well.direeted efforts. Ile thought it right to advert to those
particulars and dwell on those facts, for one fact was worth a thou.
sand arguments. Ile exhorted them to persevere in the course
which they had so admirably commenced ; thr not only were they,
by imbibing from those fountains of knowledge, drinking draughts
most refreshing to their immortal portion, but establishing the
means of strengthening and invigorating the physical part of the
man. His correspondent in Liverpool intimated that some timid
people were apprehensive lest dangerous consequences might
ensue from too extended an edtteetton of the people ; it was
feared that they nriglit, if too well informed, tread upon the
heels of their superiors. Some of those attpeeeors were aeons.
tonied to wear spurs, which perhaps, if trodden on, would be j
no great mischief ; and the his part, he would heartily rejoice
to see his friends about him arnica with a pure on their toes,
that they might stimulate those abnve them to cfthrts corres-
ponding to those which they themselves had so laudably made.
Under these circumstances the wearers of the heel would be in-
debted to the wearers of the spun. This he had ventured to pre.
diet in that tract which had been alluded to; and also, that the worst
which could happen to these who were called our superiors from
• the dissemination of knowledge was, that they would be constrained
to educate teenselves a little better. (Bear, beer.) Ile had also ,
recommended in this metropolis, as his friend Mr. Campbell had
observed—the only metropolis in Europe, except Petersburgh,
Constantinople, and Madrid, where there is not such an establish.
'sent —he had recommended the formation of an University.
There was the fairest prospect, he was happy to say, that this idea
would be realised. The higher el:votes, God woe, had many ad.
vantages over those who only steal an hour for science. The latter
resort to it for pleasure, as a recreation front business—the former I
make a business of pleasure. If dui gave over this system, and
followed the example of those they coustdered timely inferiors, they
' would find that the pleasures of brute sense and appetite were
welting to moral and intellectual pleasures. 'leer.) But
there was another argument adduced against popular education. i
Colgultoun (who had been alluded to in the President's
address), and many of whose statements were grossly exaggerated,
thought there would be an end to government, if the subjects of a ;
State were well educated. In reply to this, lie (Mr. Brougham)
would only say, if there be each a monster of a Government, the
sooner it ceased to exist the better. (Cheers.) Let it not be
thought he was speaking seditiously when he said dila. So far
from thinking that the extension of science and the promotion of
education was dangerous to our Goverreent, he thought that the
more enlightened the people were, the safer for the Govern.
ment. Any illustration to this principle came well from
the populone town of Manchester. Manchester was famous
for etany things, and amongst others it used to be famous
for riotous malts, as they were called. There are differences of (mi.
nion as to the won't kind of mobs; for Ilia part, he thought
that a High Church mob, got together for the propose of
pulling down Presbyterian houses, the worst kind of mob in a
Christian country. lint amongst the people in alancnester there
had been some misunderstanding, to which he did not mean to ad.
ten. From their misunderstandings much unpleasantness had
arisen; but it was a tact which he had from the bent Authority. that I
not one member of the 3lechanies' Inatitution had been founds
amongst those who had misbehaved. They had done their duty to
themselves, but they never is one single instance had vielated the
law of the land. The subject was so pleasing, that he had unwarily
encroached upon his wonky friend's (Dr. liiikbeck's)province,atult
troubled the meetieg with a lecture. It would probably be the last
time he should trouble them with a lecture. eVhenever his services
should be thought useful, he would be most happy to at teed, but
Nether than this was rot his province. Ile was only a fellow eau.
dent—he had never attended that he lied not added to the stock of
information he possessed, and revived something he had forgotten.
The dine passed in attendance in the Mechanic? Institution was,
usefully and instructively spent. Ile hoped often to have the plea.'
sufe of meeting those he addressed—he wished to thank them for
the attention they had bestowed on him—and in conclusion begged
leave to wish them all a renod night. The Learned Gentlematesat
[down amidst loud anti reiterated cheers.

The Duke of tivasrx then came forward and addressed the
fleeting nearly as follcws :—Gentlemen, I carnot retire from this
most interesting :fleeting without expressing the high gratification
I hare enjoyed as an auditor to the address of your worthy Presi-
dent, as well as the satisfaction I feel in anticipating the useful
effects which will result from it. Upon taking lease, I beg to
assure you of try good wishes, and that you may command every
aid 1 can afford.

Ilia Royal Highness then retired. amidst loud cbeen, accom-
panied by the Gentlemen of the Committee, and the Assembly
soon after separated.

The Vauxhall Proprietors arc, it said, making extensive
preparations to receive their Royal visiters this evening.
Emigration to the Canadas appear: to be increasing at
very rapid rate. On the '26th of May 1821, reckoning
from the beginning of that year, 31 vessels, tlte total bar-
' den of which was 7.715 tons, had arrived at Quebcc,l
[bringing out only 45 settlers. Up to the same date in the
present year, '2ll vessels bed arrived, toneage .0,274, and
wish 2,1.57 settlers on board.