The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-07 00:00:00

EDINBURGH PHILOSOPHICAL
INSTITUTION.

EDINBURGH, THURSDAY MORNING.—Last evening a
soirée, with an abundant supply of cakes, fruits, wines,
&c., was held in the .Music-hall, to celebrate the estab-
lishment of the Philosophical Institution. About 800
ladies and gentlemen were accommodated at the tables
placed in the body of the hall; the galleries and spacious
orchestra were also filled with a well-dressed auditory.
The Lord Provost occupied the chair, supported on
the right by his Grace the Archbishop of Dublin, Pro-
fessor Wilson, Lord Cuninghame, Mr. Fox Maule, M.P.,
Mr. William Gibson Craig, M.P., Professor Nichol, Dr.
Maclagan, Rev. Thomas Guthrie; and on the left were,
the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay, M.P-, Lord Murray,
the Rev. Dr. Robert Lee, Mr. D. M. Moir (Delta), Pro-
fessor Gregory, Professor More, Professor Pillans, &c.
Dr. LEE having said grace, the Lord Provost gave in
succession the usual preliminary toasts, all of which
were heartily responded to; that of "Her Majesty's
Ministers," though proposed without accompanying re-
marks, was followed by loud and prolonged cheers.
The LORD PROVOST then rose, and spoke as follows:
Though not altogether unaccustomed to public speaking,
I never rise to address even a small and friendly
audience on subjects with which I may be supposed
to be familiar, but with diffidence and hesitation. I
may, then, be excused for an oppressive feeling of in-
adequacy to speak on subjects in regard to which I
am only a scholar on the lowest form, before an
audience so numerous and intellectual, and in a presence
so exalted in dignity and in talents.—(Applause.)
But for the accidental circumstance of my position, it
would have been presumption in me to have attempted
to grapple with the topic entrusted to me by the direc
tors ; yet, however feeble my endeavours, I yield to
none in good wishes for the success of this and kindred
institutions.—(Renewed applause.) Edinburgh has been
long renowned as a seat of learning, and as the resi-
dence of distinguished philosophers, and the inhabitants
have not failed to profit by the brilliant lights which
shone in the midst of them. From the opportunities
afforded by her educational institutions, even the
humblest ranks of her sons have had the treasures of
literature and science laid open to them ; the pupils
have communicated of their acquisitions to their families
and associates, so that, as a community, her citizens have
earned a reputation for literary taste and general intel-
ligence.—(Great applause.) If, however, we have at-
tained an honourable position among the cities of the
empire, to keep our place we must advance with the
onward progress of society. Other towns are establish-
ing literary and scientific institutions for the general
benefit ; the standard of information among all classes
is perpetually rising. Unless we open the fountains of
science, and avail ourselves of the streams of know-
ledge, we must submit to take an inferior rank among
cities. Our sons may trade for a short time upon the
reputation and capital of their forefathers, but unless
thoroughly. educated and trained for the more respon-
sible situations in life, their places will be occupied
by others who have more diligently improved their
talents.—(Hear.) The Edinburgh Philosophical Asso-
ciation commenced some fourteen years ago for the
purpose of giving the members an opportunity of
hearing lectures on literature, science, and art by men
distinguished in their various walks. The last whose
voice was heard amongst us was the gifted but unhappy
Haydon, who was listened to with profit and pleasure,
when eloquently unfolding the history and principles of
the pictorial art, and whose cheerful conversational
powers enlivened our social circles, while, alas ! a
wounded spirit was fatally preying upon his too sensitive
mental constitution. It has been resolved to enlarge the
sphere of the association, and to add to the system of
lectures a library and reading-room, that the information
communicated by the lecturer may be extended and
more accurately appreciated by study. The education
of the man is not completed when he leaves the walls of
the school or the college, he has received there only the
discipline and training which by giving strength and
flexibility and habits of exercise to his faculties prepare
him for educating himself. The drilling he had received
fits him for the active campaigns of life; but to secure
success he will have daily to combat subtle and power-
ful enemies, he must resist the seductions of slothfulness
and sensual pleasures, he must subdue the strongholds
of prejudice and error, strengthen his intellectual and
moral powers, and extend his mental domains.—(Ap-
plause.) Do I hear any one say the study of literature
and science may be very appropriate for those who are to
follow the learned professions, but it only tends to distract
the attention of the industrious classes from their proper
business and to make them discontented with their con-
dition? If the thirst for knowledge should stir up in
some ardent minds cravings and longings after more in-
tellectual
occupation, is it matter of regret that such men
as the elder Herschel should have relinquished organ
playing for astronomy, and added a new planet to our
system ? that Arkwright should have neglected the busi-
ness of the razor for the study of mechanics, and in-
creased the wealth and power of Britain by the inven-
tion of the spinning jenny ? that Franklin should have
left the manual labour of the printing-press for litera-
ture, philosophy, and legislation, should have taught us
to draw down the lightning from Heaven, and assisted
in giving a free constitution to his country ? or that
Watt should have annihilated time and space by the
triumphs of the steam-engine ?—(Applause.) It may
be that some ill-regulated spirits may be diverted from
their proper sphere to attempt at flights beyond their
power of wing ; but if such ill-balanced minds had not
taken an erratic course in this, is it certain they would
not have flown off in another and less honourable direc-
tion ? The legitimate tendency of this and similar in-
stitutions is not to make the industrious classes discon-
tented with their condition, but to qualify them more
thoroughly for succeeding in whatever branch of in-
dustry they are engaged. Knowledge of the countries
with which he trades, of their productions and capabi-
lities, of the manners, habits, and wants of the inhabit-
ants, is necessary for the merchant, and the more ample
and accurate his information regarding the various
countries of the globe, the greater will be the probabi-
lity of success in his adventures ; and is it not the same
with the manufacturer, the agriculturist, the mechanic,
and the artisan ? What wonders have been accom-
plished in our manufacturing districts through the in-
structions of natural philosophy ; for art is only the ap-
plication of knowledge to a particular end.—(Hear,
hear.) From reluctant soils and trackless moors on
which an ignorant and sluggish tenantry formerly toiled
and starved, the increased science of the agriculturist
has extracted rich and abundant crops, and quadrupled
the value of the land ; and still greater triumphs remain
to be achieved by the farmer when better instructed in
the powers of nature.—(Applause.) There is no class,
not even the humblest, whom increased knowledge will
not benefit even in their ordinary occupations and do-
mestic arrangements. More widely diffused information
will discover to the operative more efficient and quick
methods of completing his work—will lead to the proper
ventilating of houses, increased cleanliness, improved
health, and general comfort.—(Applause.) Highly im-
portant as is the diffusion of knowledge for the promo-
tion of the arts and the increase of physical enjoyment,
it claims a still higher place in our estimation when its
moral results are considered. The tendency of true
knowledge is to purify and elevate the mind ; and the
more exalted the nature of the knowledge, and the
greater the amount of acquisition, the greater will be
the advance of the man in moral excellence. The man
whose mind lies waste and uncultivated, rank with pre-
judice, dark and sluggish through ignorance, is much
more likely to become the slave of passion and
appetite than the man who contemplates the ob-
jects of nature around him with a discerning eye,
who perceives with admiration the harmony of
its parts, the skill and efficiency and aptness
of its contrivances who sees, as his sphere of
observation extends, new wonders continually opening
upon him in increasing abundance and surpassing his
comprehension, till, lost in light ineffable, he is com-
pelled to,feel and acknowledge his own insignificance in
the scale of creation, and to adore that unsearchable
power and intelligence which governs the universe. (The
Lord Provost concluded by giving " The Philosophical
Institution," which was received with great applause, and
drunk with all the honours.)
The Archbishop of DUBLIN, who was loudly cheered,
proposed, as the next toast, "The Cause of Education."
His speech was very much a recapitulation of the one de-
livered by his Grace at the Manchester Athenaeum.
The Right Hon. T. B. MACAULAY, on presenting
himself to propose the next toast, was most loudly
cheered. When the cheering had subsided, he said—
Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you from my heart for
this kind reception. I have thought it right to steal a
short time from duties not unimportant, for the purpose
of lending my aid to an undertaking eminently' calcu-
lated to raise the credit and promote the best interests
of the city which has so many claims on my gratitude.—
(Cheers.) The directors of this institution have re-
quested me to propose to you, as a toast, " The Litera-
ture of Britain."— (Cheers.) They could not have
assigned to me any part in these proceedings more per-
fectly in harmony with the view which I take of the
nature and objects of this institution.—(Cheers.) It is,
I conceive, an institution for the purpose of imparting
knowledge, chiefly through the medium of our own
language and of our own literature. Your city is
already rich in libraries worthy of her fame as a seat of
learning, and Is a seat of jurisprudence. A man of
letters can have no difficulty here in finding access to
repositories of learning filled with the varied wisdom of
many ages and of many countries. But something was
still wanting. We still wanted a library readily ac-
cessible to that large, that important, that respect-
able class which, though by no means destitute of
liberal curiosity or of sensibility to the highest powers
of genius, is yet necessarily compelled by the pressure
of daily avocations to confine its studies almost
entirely to our own language. For that class I will not
say exclusively, but I conceive especially, this library is
intended. I hope the directors will not be satisfied, las
a member shall certainly not he satisfied, until we pos-
sess a truly rich and complete collection of English
literature—(Cheers)—until it is impossible to seek in
vain on our shelves for any English book which is valu-
able either by reason of the substance, or by reason of
any light which it may throw on our civil, ecclesiastical,
intellectual, or social history—a collection of everything
in the English language which can afford useful instruc-
tion or harmless amusement.—(Cheers.) From such a
collection, readily open to all that valuable class I have
mentioned, I am disposed to expect very great good.
And when I say this, I do not at present take into ac •
count those rare and extraordinary cases to which my
valued friend, the r Provost, has so happily and
strikingly alluded.
Is not impossible that Wesome must, indeed, remember that it
great genius, qualified to en-
rich our literature withlierrable works, or to extend the
empire of dyer
possibly for the first
time feel in our consciousnessfilf:srg,tv-tll.3emtyi
yet andeveloped.—(Chee
impossible that
in our reading-room the ftistthoughtaoatf something great
may cross the mind of sortie Herschel, Watt, or Ark-
wright ; but I epee's Aot Orthese rare and
What I do anticipate is,t4ist through the peculiarwlole of that
cases.
valuable class -whose" benefit we have peculiarly
view, there will be *diced a general intellectual,anin
a