The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-23 00:00:00

.:.
..--,4P----" 67.---e--0---e.
. ....
latter keeps gubbornly tc: its pos,itrowhether disproyern
or not, whilst the former Is an unarrestable movement to- ‘VSFAI ' Eli,
wards the fountain of truth—caring little for cherished ~. ----,k
authorities or sentiments, but continually progressing—. - 4=
-?--.7--74 '4: ''''` \'''''‘.
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cling no false shame at her shortcomings, but, on the .. ---.. :-Z,:•\.4:',--e
ntrary, the highest pleasure when freed from an error, ;%415,,- i.f„.--4
at having,advanced another step towards the attainment ,--4i1.0k-selir- -,
of Divine alith, a pleasure not even intelligible to the- ',•,`R''.....'—';-4,,:1y51•4;'' '
pride of
,ignorance. We also hear, not unfrequentlY; ''''''''' '-'' e7"li
science and practice, scientific knowledge and common '4W-A )--.-.. ''''''
sense, contrasted as antagonistic. A strange error l. • .1. s.„:
For science is eminently practical, and must be so, as - *lt '''''
she sees and knows what she is doing ; whilst mere _
f
common practice is condemned to work in the dark, ap- ,
~_-•,. , •-,
Plying natural ingenuity to unknown poners to obtain
a known result. Far belt for me to undervalue the crea• --; ' v
tive power of genius, or to treat shrewd common sense
as worthless without knowledge. But nobody will tell
me that the same genius would not take an incompara-
bly higher flight if supplied with all the means that
knowledge can impart, or that common sense does not
of
f t h e become,
materialsi n ft ac,
upononly
wtrulyhiu i 1
judgment
powerful whenis
t,o inbe possession
exercised.
The study of the laws by which the Almighty governs
the universe is therefore our bounden duty. Of these
laws our great academies and seats
sopfheedruescatoiotngrhoauypes,
rather arbitrarily, selected only two
(as I may call them) as essential parts of our national edu-
cation—the laws which regulate quantities and propor-
tions, which form the subject of mathematics, und the
laws regulating the expression of our thought through the
medium of language, that is to say grammar, Which
finds its purest expression in the classical languages.
These laws are most important branches of knowledge ;
their study trains and elevates the mind. But they are
not the only ones ; there are others which we cannot
disregard—which we cannot do without. There are, for
instance, the laws governing the human mind and its re-
lation to the Divine Spirit—the subject of logic and
metaphysics. There are those which govern our bodily
nature and its connexion with the soul-Lthe subject of
physiology and psychology. More which govern human
society and the relations between man and man, the
subjects of politics, jurisprudence, and political economy, •
and many others. While of the laws just mentioned, „,..:_,-..:..,...:. zz*e,..:. 04;
some ha ye been recegnieesi,oethesesserretals ote& alien •
in differtint institutions, and some will, by the course of
time, more fully assert their rights to recognition, the
laws regulating matter and form are those which wilt
constitute the chief object of your pursuits ; and as the
principle of sub-division of labour is the one most con-
genial tri our age, I would advise you to keep to this
kee.iiali:y, and to follow with undivided attention chiefly
the sciences of mechanics, physics, and chemistry, and the
fine arts, in painting, sculpture, and architecture. You
will thus have conferred an inestimable boon upon your
country, and in a short time have the satisfaction of
witnessing the beneficial results upon our national powers
of production. Other parts of the country will, I doubt
not, emulate your example, and I live in hopes that all
these institutions will someday find a central point of
union, and thus complete their national organisation.
Thanking you once more for having allowed me to assist
at the foundation of your institution, I wish it growth,
vigour, and prosperity with all my heart. (His Royal
Iltgliness resumed his seat amidst enthusiastic cheering.)
Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEy proposed the next toast,
" The Health of the Emperor of the French and our
brave Allies," which was received with loud and pro-
tracted cheering. His lordship eu:oo'ised the gallantry
with which the French had shared the perils of hardly-
contested battlefields with our own troops, and observed
that the Sardinians were a people on whose present con-
dition and prospects we must always look with the deep-
est interest, as they had shown that they knew how to
rally round the standard of freedom, which they know
how to enjoy rationally. As to the Turks, they had
shown that they deserved to be fought for, and that they
psssessed some of the greatest qualities of a great nation.
But it was the frank and loyal conduct of the Emperor
of the French which had especially gained the confidence
and admiration of the people of this country during the
present struggle. We all felt that the Emperor was a
firm friend and ally on whom we could rely in every
emergency.
The Noble PRESIDENT said he found some difficulty in
doing justice to the next toast. Whether ho looked to
the patient endurance by our soldiers of privations and of
disease—whether he looked to their indomitable courage
in the face of the enemy—he confessed his admiration
was much excited. It might have been thought that,
after 40 years of peace, our eoldiers had degenerated ;
but no such thing happened ; and the same zeal, and the
same darng, and the same devotedness to their country,
had characterised both the army and navy in a degree
which must be gratifying to the people of this country.
His lordship concluded by giving "The Army and
Navy," coupling with the former the name of General
Sir Harry Smith, and with the latter the name of Sir
Robert Peel.

`~

Sir H. SMITH was receivad with cordial cheering. He
sai 1 that, after the manner in which the toast had been
received, nothing was left for a veteran like him to say
than that the juvenile soldiers of our army had covered
our army and themselves with laurels in the present war.
The British army had not degenerated, and so long as
the present alliance was preserved we should be victo-
rious under all circumstances.

Sir R. PEEL, as one of the Lords of the Admiralty,
returned thanks fur the navy in the following terms :
"In compliance with the request which has bees made
to me, I rise to acknowledge the toast. I wish the duty
had been placed in worthier bawls, but ad it is my pride
to fill any position, however subordinate, in any branch
of her Majesty's service, I feel it a privilege to acknow-
ledge tile toast on behalf of the navy. The Royal navy
of this country needs no encomium from me. (Cheers.)
The reputation of England is our glory, and an honest
rivalry of fame animates both our army and our navy ;
but, whatever may be the peculiar excellencies or dis-
tinctions of the two services, it is upon the united dis-
cipline and character of both services that the reputation
and the strength of old England are based. (Cheers.)
The achievements of the navy are recorded in the annals
of our country, and wnatever services it may have occa-
sion to perform, we may rest well satisfied that the same
loyalty, the same readiness, and the same courage which
have hitherto maintained unsullied the reputation of our
arms will still be conspicuous. We well know that from
the highest officer who holds command in the navy down
to the humblest sea-boy before the mast, all aro ani-
mated by but one feeling, and that, as they walk the
decks of their vessels—those decks which have been the
field of our national fame—they are not unmindful of
the reputation of the past, and they are prepared to up-
hold the power and the fame of our country. (Cheers.)
I may be permitted before I sit down to say—and I
think I am giving utterance to the sentiments of this
vast assemblage—that I do not believe either those proud
leviathan vessels that sweep the seas, or the number of
those brave battalions for whom the gallant general near
me has tendered his acknowledkments, constitutes the
true and real security of this country ; but I think the
best guarantee for its power and security is to be found
in that unanimous feeling which animates every class of
her Majesty's subjects—(cheer-)—a feeling which has
been so remarkably conspicuous on this most important
occasion. I must say it is a matter of pride to reflect
that, in spite of all the pre-occuisations of the present
period—in spite of all those necessary privations and
self-denials which the circumstances of the moment en-
shou'd, under the noble auspices of the Consort
of or Sovereign, inaugurate a work of peace and moral
advancement. I think it is a proud day for this, the pro-
vincial capital of one of the most busy districts of Eng-
land, when so many hundreds of persons assemble to in-
augurate and promote a work which will& ffect great social
improvement. It is with great pleasure that I see here
to-day the Consort of our beloved Sovereign, and I trust
the inhabitants of this t )wn and neighbourhood w.l! put
forth their energies in order that the future success of
the institute may be commensurate with the dignity of
this occasion, for by so doing I conceive they will best
evince their sense of the honour conferred upon the town
by the presence of his Royal Highness. (Cheers.)
At this stage of the proceedings his Royal Highness
retired, followed by the principal members of hies suite._r_
The CHAIRMAN then gave "The Health of tbacYlnogi.
and her Majesty's Ministers," which was brienjest:r,
the
hedged, the former by the Bishop of Mane
later by Lord Stanley of Alderley. "
evening., See.
end in
Lord ASHBURTON gave the toast of thed
cess to the Birmingham and Midbeinii
easytoselect
000
it e Institute,"
doing so said—lt would have be
more capable of doing justice, but it could have been
intrusted to no individuali moorre anxious for the welfare
H
ne was deeply impressed
theno t institute
whose immediate benefit
do ef
rontscaedt; fee but absolute necessity of
the movement which an
only improvement
was
with the
inP ithey bad assembled to inaugurate.
The principle of the instkitmuteinonthese-astogive to all classes,
or workmen, processes and powers
with which in the pursuit of their daily avo-
cationsas th e systemtal
bad to, deal. Its object was to train the eye
to tahnede
such
ctho
tuhnedade
they
r-
oaf- hneatthu.etrsre,
stand rtsu rsen' se
Such
aspect—to
w
vanteges of the institution. It was true that the hearts
awl souls of England were absorbed in the Russian war.
to interprireitaisortoia
They felt, and felt rightly, that the character and honour
of England were at stake, and no sacrifice could be spared.
Buntotthienn
sometherecwo
confined
ned anotherspotsof o
warwhichnrn
enemy's
tys
wasn being waged
territory,
3,000 miles away, but a war at home, involving the
bread of their children and the destinies of their coun-
try. With free trade they bad cast down the gaunt-
let to all nations, and had to fight for superiority in
their own markets and in those of their colo-
nies. They had slumbered too long, and the tortoise had
overtaken them in the race. They were ready enough
to twit with ignorance their suffering army its the Crimea ;
but were they, nobles, maufacturers, farmers, workmen,
and others, a whit less ignorant in their several "spa:
Cities. It was not to the Government that they muste
look for remedy, but to themselves. The G°"."1,17.`
followed public) opinion, not led it. The pociEtiozra,
who
Ministers was that of the Jews at the time of Ezra,
sword in
built walls with the trowel in ono band and the
to give
the other. Ministers were too
d near the Throne,
their undivided attention to such matters.
fortunately at this moment they
wn,
a prince who was
wielding the authority of the
_Gicroto
and who had larger
c But most
above the sphere of party fl
grsetaimt uls to
He had promoted
views than their
meanspubli..c
the party squabbles of
in his power. He had worked
e_ii,"eladbasyor.ved, as they were, in
out sciencethe by
every
Exhibition
hof 51 wneot
taoso da n passingth e how
that the strength f the compe-
tition country
and they no longer remained with
had been awa—ee on calmly at thegreat
industry,
of t
hbeu twkte:rlsd:,
arms looking struggle. If
foldedwßy
they relaxed in their great exertions now, England would
be
a wilderness again, peopled with worse than wolves
eopiled with starving outlaws. (Loud cheers.)
__peopled
LYTTELTON proposed
"The health of the Pre-
sident of the Royal Society," which was briefly responded
to by Lord WROTTESLET,
Sir R. MURCHISON replied to the toast of " Literature
and Art."
The proceedings, which had been throughout of a mom.
gratifying nature, terminated soon
.after six.

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