The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-04 00:00:00

MEMOIR OF DR. BIRKBECK.
viiTuas eminent physician and estimable man,
de phis
death we announced on Thursday morning,
serves a more extended notice from us, than we
icos then. supply.
.Tice tribute of respect which
'Lae from the public will, we have no doubt,
inch
time be cheerfully paid.
17.4-11% Birkbeck was born about 1776, at Settle,
Yorkshire, where his father was established as a
rfaker and manufacturer, and where a branch
the family still resides and carries on the same
orusiness. After receiving the usual rudiments
4 education at a village in the neighbourhood,
I,,,tfig which he displayed a strong inclination
.1"ose mechanical pursuits to which he after-
Ords, became so devoted, it was determined by
Is friends that he should embrace the medical
,Profession.
After studying first at Leeds, which then and
,he
boasts of several celebrated medical men,
41,0 e removed to London, where he had the good
e to become a pupil of the celebrated Dr.
jri;le, whose friendship he retained until the
41Ita of that illustrious man. Afterwards lie
thnloved to complete his education to Edinburgh,
h,enjn
e the zenith of its (lime as a school of
-iedi •
for,sme. Here also he had the happiness to
e-W a friendship with Brougham, Horner,
hh'reY, Scott, and others of that race,
no r`l °,re then beginning to blaze in the
its Lterliwe capital, with a splendour such
Whil Past annals had not seen. But
e cultivating this brilliant society he did
ha-," neglect his scientific pursuits, and in these he
8e `k made such attainment that,before the twenty-
fend year of his age, he was appointed Pro-
°f• Natural Philosophy in the Andersonian
!titution of Glasgow.
ten4t was while in this situation that Dr. Birk-
tiock laid the basis of these Mechanics' Institu-
thies3 connection with which his name has
l'utui'Y attracted present notice, and will engage
pre remembrance. With liberality rarely
4611ced hi such quarters, he invited the media-
-14; of the City to a gratuitous attendance on
thetures ; and their grateful acknowledgments
4 benefit contributed to strengthen in him
thee benevolent wish to improve the education of
,ekt workmen, which he afterwards carried so
18n naively into effect. It was about the year
lox that this course of lectures on Natural Phi-
derl)llY and its application to the arts was
aeabut
abut a few
at first availed themselves of this !
tlinantag,e. By degrees, however, the extraor_
jildrY Perspicuity of the teacher's method, the
ilathefts selection of his experiments, and the
live'rQ attractions of his subject, to men whose
tie°, Were spent in directing or witnessing opera-
foie Of which the principles were now first un-
tie tothem by the Doctor, proved successful in
Vieuhsing• a general taste for the study ; and, about
llea;ierlod when he left Glasgow for London,
1 700 men eagerly and constantly attended
ectu
Alth e*
epee „,Oligh this admirable Institution has ever
teas' flourished under the able and worthy suc-
oth:s of Dr. Birkbeck, and although there are
(lita. towns in Scotland, and even within a short
kas nee of Glasgow, possessing hundreds of arti-
ND', Yet twenty years elapsed before the ex-
te, Was followed. It was not, in fact,
the Ze year 1821, that Edinburgh followed
the ernPle, and framed an institution called
Play•djnburgh School of Art, on Dr. Birkbeck's
1300 -During the firstyear of this institution nearly
attendedN. the lectures, and the students were
db 111,7,•, less than forty-eight different trades.
'Mire the many liberal donations made to the
4144 urgh School of Arts, we feel delighted to
littiellrkt at . the present moment, that the. late
ed Sir Francis Chantrey presented it, im-
,,brateadte,lY on its opening, with copies of his cele-
-1)4-, ousts of Watt and Rennie, and one of
Artrabklin, which now adorn the lecture-room.
thenßirkbeck's removal to London,
~hyglei'le acquired considerable practice as a
and was necessarily much engaged in
trii, °l4essio he never lost the desire to con-
hires e to the improvement of his fellow-crea-
,th, e inan,d he occasionally delivered lectures at
108 C -gni.(l.oll Institution and other Societies, on
the at-intkicts in which he delighted. When
tleeltda,,?.r:t:tt of the public in London was
year 1823, by an address in the
hecha i•les -Magazine, to the propriety of the
ecs forming an Institution of their own,
Rive
tiirkhee,_
was one of the first in the field to
bY t 1 1e Project his support, and it was mainly
le sa„
it:(l,llis ,x"aetloll of his- name, by his exertions,
oear, that the project was brought
lusiktun- He was well seconded by the en-
"wild ma --vt the people , crowds of workmen
Ihi-`'„ll,elnd"o"'fialers-floCked. to the meeting, which
niorluise hatre 2d of December, 1823. The
est, niellt, and been given at the right
complete success was the
4 so niechanlcs' Institution was form-
tiirbon th OVIPtly, that it was opened in the
QllO. b January, a chapel in Monkwell-street
eell hired for the purpose. Dr. Birkbeck
Nti:red on the occasion an inaugural address,
liigrrkable for its elegance and its beautiful il-
Bilitßtious of the advantages of intellectual pur-
-111„r• Lectures were almost immediately de-
Oi ,e led on mechanics by Professor .Millington,
,'" London Institution, and on chemistry by
rayln a short time the Institution
Niefcled• between 1,200 and 1,300 members,
the "raY mechanics. They each contributed at
plc te of one pound per year, and crowded
Ive• ,:13r to the lectures after the toils of the day
to srf ,°ver, coming from a considerable distance,
liltaa,l'e their thirst for knowledge presented in a
nsring form. They then learnt
,;,c4v charming is divine philosophBydy,
."lat harsh and crabbed as dell fools suppose,"
krththa,
learning, cherishing in all classes a
lourcer desire for knowledge, will prove the
that le of future improvement far surpassing all
\„,.'as Yet been achieved by man.
aliirees some time before the Institution ac-
Igs present locality in Southampton-build-
4et4, `Alaneery-lane. At length, by Dr. Birk-
hotis Pecuniary aid, who advanced about 3,0001.,
$111,04i;:e and ground were purchased, and a corn-
'Re s'lls theatre erected in the very heart of
raetr •
era th °Polls. Many eminent and good men.
Ptio„ .„e first promoted the success of the Insti-
Vg‘uY their purses and their time. His Royal
p ss the Duke of Sussex, Lord Brougham,
tors. Ilucis Burdett, were amongst its benefac-
' tors.
Die . Professor Millington, whose lectures
ell Quite
models of plainess and perspicuity,
Irkheck found a helpmate worthy of him-
th with
ik7 seetu the advantage which he boasted.
.off in
Long tires with honest pride, that he originally
.11` 4.„ to the working classes himself. In all
t11:241118 Dr. Birkbeck was well seconded by
th-worle evotedness, and excellent behaviour of
1-oe
len nStiturlP Classes. We mention, to the honour of
en .
, that during the 18 years it has now
ea pia 6 led, no serious division or dispute has
'm4rr "ce in it no secession or important
th_
.kho "Anigh the great number of similar In-
ns Iv] • , • .
eWlt which have since arisen, have lessened
tht tiat the number of persons who now fre-
. :the
Qie Parent Institution.
0".°11 ?read of these seminaries of popular edu-
;qBl. tle,a"haas rapid. At Manchester,.. Leeds, New-
je4ted
11`4,10ther places, institutions were quickly
th,,, °I-1 tile Learned Doctor's. plan. In
h,No„ ;-; sYstem had extended in every direction.
-'l,li'll.,KartilL) 111
_the Isle of Wight, Liverpool, Bir-
o `ler oeuthwark, Spitalfields Ashton-
Vatlies`'37le7 Brighton; all rapidly formed Me-
Austitutions Between fifty and sixty
q4le -"en of this kind,. sprang up in. that year,
1/1 Ing th
lEi27 e whole at that time eighty numbekr:
11,ek's plan had been the spread of Dr. Bir
rr,teme,vilall, that in the remote regions of Van
'yr Ned—% Land a Mechanics' Institute was
o Since that time, they have spread over
mot cou
ntr so that scarcely one town or
tlePigh thr Y' • is •
Icat , oughout the island, without a hall
eu to the education of the people.
fi or 44were the benefits of such institutions con-
-1,4 to
itrts "gland. Though at the Conservatoire
übusly been
Metiers at Paris lectures had pre-
Wiloso„leen given on mechanical and political
Jey InrilY, it was not till the London Media-
, 1: hist stitution had set the example that courses
etion, expressly intended for mechanics,
1;4, ,sll„)luenced at Paris by Baron Charles Du-
' •;?letz, and even at Madrid. Few valu-
‘;„tlre eZnlEsl in fact, have had a more rapid and
k''''tblireral success than the schemes. for
thealls working mechanics, by their own
° acquire- a knowledge of the theory of
Nir:-11 useful arts they practise.
t„,
tc`,N'e already recorded the time of Dr.
;-e ears" death. We have to add, that for
s~itiit 4ernal 4 the Doctor bad been afflicted with
disease of the most distressing de-
,_Veryt°°) Which did not, however, though of a
4,s_oit"illful. character, prevent him following the
,14'erlia4deti,ve pursuits. Although he was fully
;1-ath-•'eu that the disease would terminate in
'l.i,L4ie , Yet till within the last six or seven days
ted,b
Zr approach of dissolution was not antici-
, thi y either himself or his friends—and he
‘,..:01 ..e en able to receive patients so lately as this
13irkb k
).,j1 et the ee in addition to his
.Presidency
pilfeside London Mechanics' Institution, was also.
)4;, Lecietienst of the Meteorological and Chemical
t and of the Medical and Chirurgica
k f
embe ° London. He was also Honorary
etp
„fr,of the Literary and Philosophical So-
' 'Ol Bristol, Leeds, and of many of the bene-
. h, ent
Rnouudsu stitutions with which the Metropolis
Li,A.B a
bewPolitician, Dr. Birkbeck belonged to the
Party) but he never allowed politics to