The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-23 00:00:00

SE PTE MBER _ 23, 1851.

] ?RiNTERS" ATIETEN/EITIII.
A public meeting was held yesterday evening at
Anderti .n's Hotel, Fleet-street, for the purpose of
promoting the formation of an institution to be called

the Prii iters' Athenaeum, combining the advantages
of a 4 a ab with those incidental to a literary and sci-
entific i institution. The handbill which was circulated
to the meeting stated that " all trades in connexion
with t le printing profession are eligible to become
membf:::s ; and the public at large, if proposed by
a mem 1 ler," and gave the following extract from the
rules :- - -

" Tb :.tt persons following the business of letter-press
and col ) per-plate printers, bookbinders, type-founders,
stereot, y per).,, engravers, lithographers, printers' ink-
makers printers joiners, and such like trades indi-
rectly ,1 ttached to the printing profession, be com-
petent Ito become ticket-holders, and subsequently
membe. r s of this society ; and individuals not so con-
nected, desirous of joining the institution, shall be
permitt E d to do so upon their being proposed by a
ticket-. older or member."

The subscription proposed is 3d. per week. Mem-
bers' n mes enrolled on the payment of 63. Annual
sulx.cri E ,tion 103. if paid prior to the close of 1851.
Char les Knight, Esq., took the chair. The

room v. r as crowded to excess, and several ladies were
present .
The CHAIRMAN congratulated the meeting on the
present of lathes, whose good influence had been
practic: lly shown in the institution of the Whit-
tington Club. He held in his hand letters of apology,
regretti.ag their unavoidable absence, from gentlemen
who we f re intimr,tely connected with the literature of

the cot atry, and some of them most distinguished
charnel ;,?rs. He must confess it had appeared to him
that th'a ; meeting was held a little too early ; for after
the unia reccdented excitement of the last six or seven
months,, all who had the opportunity were glad to
keep out of town. Among the letters he had re-
ceived a a.; one from Dr. Halliwell, who, expressing
his apps, oval of the object of the meeting, enclosed
copies (4' f his own works as a donation towards the
propose (1 library. Letters of apology, and commend-
ing the object of the meeting, were also read by the
chairm a n from Mr. Angus Reach, Douglas Jerrold,
Gilbert A'Beckett, Charles Dickens, John Forster,
a Howitt, Mark Lemon, Dr. Cumming, Dr.
Camps, &c. _ _

The Cueineeeen in opening the business of the
evening:, trusted that all present would feel that
they w ere met on this occasion for a great and im-
portant object. The object of this institution was to
elevate the class of persons to which " eve,"
said tin chairman, " belong" :—by better edu-
cating ;the youthful members of the trade,
and for facilitating social communication one
with a nother. There was indeed a feeling
among t nany that those persons who were engaged
in the be .siness of printing required no such institu-
tion as •this ; and this opinion might be true to a
certain e xtent, but he must say only to a limited ex-
tent. 11 e had known cases of men who were com-
positors who had distinguished themselves by reach-
ing an ie mount of knowledge which would have placed
them at a comparatively early age in a high position
at any ce f our universities. Such men he was proud
to call his friends and fellow-labourers.—(Cheers.)
But it w as a lamentable fact that there were a great
many in, en in the trade who were not intelligent men
—who d id not possess that amount of acquirements
which tl ie public were accustomed to expect from all
departmi ants of the trade. He found it stated in a
documee it which he held in his hand that a large
number of youths, who had been introduced to the
trade du ring the last 20 years, had been found when
apprenticed lamentably deficient in the simplest
elements` of their own language. Now this was a
strong f act to go forth to the world ; but the fault
was wit h those who took such apprentices, and per-
haps thAe fault was in the state of society in which
we was) placed. In former times, when there were
guilds, the masters were bound to instruct their
apprentices in reading and writing, and in their
particul-er art or mystery, and to communicate
to theca a knowledge of general literature,
and of their own language. That time bad passed,
and thew were now in a commercially competitive
state of society. Need he say more to show the ne-
cessity of young men being imbued with a knowledge
of their own language and other languages, in order
to meet the common instances that arose every day
before ;them ? Need he urge a stronger reason for
founditeg this athenocum ? Let them take the young
man fro m the daily drudgery of his case, and from
the imposing stone. Take him from his nightly
rambles , and bring him to a place where he can be
amused and instructed. Let such young man become
acquainted with the newspapers and the general pe-
riodical literature of the day. He would thus become
a skilful workman, and be competent to deal with all
the subj ects that might come before him. He thought
that while this reproach was just as regarded some
in the tt ade, some reproach rested with authors and
literary men, whose writing was too frequently ille-
gible, as he himself had that evening experienced in
reading some of the letters of apology. But he must
really defend the literary profession from the odium
which vas cast upon it by those who had drawn up
a state.neent, who stated, "So much is left to the
judgment and knowledge of the compositor, the
result of bad writing and false orthogra-
phy, &c." Now he must stand up and
deny that such would be the case with any
persons having any legitimate claim to a connexion
with literature. At the same time he had no doubt
that there were many who aspired to be public
teachers who put forth not only bad orthography but
bad principles.—(Hear.) Now he took those unhappy
persons to be in the same position as those who had
nut attained a knowledge of their own language—
as unskilled workmen. He ranked the unskilled au-
thors with unskilled workmen. When they came to a
system of spurious cheap publications, they must
have bad authors and writers, who must also be
badly paid. Such a system must prove a great evil
to every branch of the trade. He was an enemy to
unwholesome cheapness by unskilled workmen, either
in ;the higher departments of literature or in the
mechanical branches. The prospectus termed this
" a literary and social institution for printers, book-
binders, typefounders, and the trades connected there-
with, as also for the working classes generally;" and
it was proposed to combine the social advan-
tages of a club with the mental improvement of a--
literary and scientific institution, and to adapt them
to the position and circumstances of the working
classes. It was proposed in the room to be set
apart for the purpose, to provide refreshments from
eight A.M. to eleven P.M., at cost prices; to provide
members with tea and coffee at all times, and, at a
stated hour, dinner, or with the requisites for dining.
Now this latter point he would not press on the at-
tention of the meeting, because it must depend on the
proper organization of the committee. The promoters
of the plan set out with the principle, " To fit up, in
a respectable way, a capacious reading-room, with
smaller rooms for the use of those studying, and to
place before the occupants three or four of the daily
and weekly papers, with certain of the weekly,
monthly, and quarterly publications ; to build up a
library of the best books, ancient and modern, suitable
for instructive and general reading, for home use as
well as at the institution ; and to ask the attendance
of the members at least once a month to hear a lec-
ture delivered by the most proficient literary and
scientific men of the country (i. e., those who are to
be engaged for this purpose), are the leading features of
the proposal; but it is further intended, by the esta-
blishment of an evening class, to instruct the male
children (above 12 years of age) of the members in the
English language; by the formation of classes for the
attainment of foreign languages, &ce Under compe-
tent teachers ; by the practice of music ; and by hold-
ing monthly assemblies for singing and dancing—
thus to provide a versatility of instruction and en-
tertainment that will endear the institution to its sup-
porters, and so make it of a lasting character." He
hoped they would achieve all these things, but in the
meantime let them do what they could for the in-
struction of the younger members. All this was to
be done for threepence a week. He bad looked into
the history of Bowyer's gift—Bowyer, the great
printer ! That gift was given annually to the one
compositor who should have a knowledge of Greek.
There were many
compositors now who had a know-
ledge of Greek ;
many of them a critical knowledge
of Greek too. But they must look to the state of so-
ciety when Bowyer made this gift, and they must
bear in mind the difference between the press as it
then was and what it was in our own age. Bow-
yer lived at a period when very large ponderous
books were published for the use of the rich, when
cheap books were withdrawn, and when a newspaper
occupied a folio of four pages, which Cowper called
a happy work. A happy work it was then, because
there was no night work.—(Hear, hear.) He hoped
that, in forming this institution, the committee would
take care to surround their large room with cheap
casts from the antique, good prints, and all those
things which had a distinct and decided influence on
the taste, and which elevated the mind of
n
hoped that the printers' readers would forwardcomelan H e
to raise the standard of this institution. There was
one of that body who had received
thewarmest from th e editor of
the Edinburgh Quarterly Review
ac-
knowledgments—namely,. Mr. C. Webb . The editor
stated that he had received suggestions from Mr.
Webb, which he had always be
en happy to acknow-
ledge,had adopted, to
and which in many the
he
the manifest advantage of publicatio this n. The Hon.
Gentleman concluded by recommending
under-
taking to the cordial support of the trade generally.
Mr. ROBERT lIARTNN ELa
i4(compositor) pro-
posed the first resolution : That in the opi-
nion
• of this meeting the proposal to establish for
the printing and bookbinding trades, and the
callings in connexion therewith, a literary and
social institution, under the general name of 'The
Printers Ather mum,' is a movement calculated to
confer many estimable advantages upon, And be con-

ducive to the mental elevation and social improve-
ment of, the members of such trades. It is, there-
fore, highly approved of by those present, and is re-
commended by them to the favourable consideration
of all persons interested in the welfare of the typo-
graphical art, and the perfection of all the depart-
ments connected with the same." Upon the advan-
tages of such an institution as the one proposed in the
resolution now submitted there could not, he con-
ceived, be two opinions. They must be self-evident
to any man who had taken the trouble to bestow a
thought on the subject. It would tend not only to
the moral and social improvement of its members, de-
veloping those talents which otherwise might lie
dormant, but would also contribute to their amusement
and gratification, producing those kindly feelings, the
natural fruit of social intercourse, and enabling
them to pursue their ordinary avocations with
greater pleasure and profit to themselves.—(Hear.)
Since the proposition had been before the trade,
he had heard many objections raised and doubts
started, but they had come chiefly from those who
had not considered the subject iu all its bearings, and
he had heard none of sufficient weight to deter him
from working with all the energy he possessed to
bring the preposition into a tangible shape. Among
all the objectors, he had heard none di-puce the de-
sirability of the establishment of such an institution es

the one now prOPO;d7lewould therefore ask, if
they, the journeymen printers of this metropolis,
could establish on a firm basil, as they had done, an
institution which affords a permanent pecuniary solace
to their members when overtaken by the infirmities
almost inseparable from their profession—he meant the
Printers' Pension Society ; if they could carry for.
ward to successful completion, as they were upon the
eve of doing, the foundation of an asylum for old age
—the Printers' Almshouse Fund ; if they could esta-
blish, es they had recently done, an institution from
which, when their lives had departed, their widows
or relatives might be provided with the means of
giving them a decent interment—he referred to the
Typographical Widow and Orphans' Fund—(Hear,
hear, and cheers)—if from these humble but united
means and energies they had accomplished these
useful aids to their bodily and material wants,
were they to be deterred by any slight difficulties
from endeavouring to establish the Printers' Atbe-

neeum, which would contribute so much to their
moral improvement and social comforts ? Were they
to allow the objections of the unthinking, or the
doubts and hesitation of the timid, to deter them
from prosecuting a work which they believed would
be useful and instructive to themselves and their fa-
milies ? Certainly not. When he considered the
vast improvements which had taken place amongst the
members composing the printing trade since he first
came to the business, the abolition of the most of
those drinking customs and usages, the indulgence of
which tended to unfit men for work, and caused
them to lose the respect not only of their employer,
but of themselves also ; when he looked around
society at large, and saw the rapid strides made kr
all classes in knowledge and improvement, he felt
convinced that printers must have shared equally in
that improvement, and that the present time was
peculiarly fitting for the establishment of such an
institution as that proposed; that it was absolutely
required by the wants of the youth of the business,
who will, when it is fairly placed before them,
gladly avail themselves of its manifold advan-
tages ; while the older members will welcome with
satisfaction the auxiliary aid brought to bear for their
improvement. Let all those, then, who feel with the
provisional committee upon this subject unite heartily
in co-operation with them, and success would as-
suredly attend the effort. Let them, as printers—
the instruments through which were dispensed to
mankind, even to the uttermost parts of the globe,
the thoughts and knowledge gathered up in the
minds of the poet, the historian, the dramatist, or the
more learned writers on science—prove to the world
that they understood, and could appreciate the advan-
tages of their position ; and they could not better do so
than by establishing an institution which would
enable them to profit their minds by that which
passed through their hands, in the first place, me-
chanically. Let them, who ought to be intellectually
at the head of the working classes of this country,
prove that they were so in fact, as they had hitherto
been in theory, and the result would be not only
satisfactory, creditable, and honourable to themselves,
but would create a landneerk for other bodies of
working men, warning them to go and do likewise.
He begged to propose the resolution placed in his
hands, and earnestly recommended its adoption by
the meeting —(Cheers.)
The resolution having been very ably seconded by
Mr. T. J. Dunning, and spoken to by Mr Robert
Davies, was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. EDWARDS (lion. Sec.) moved the second reso-
lution, and expressed his belief that in the entire
community there was no body rail:firing such en
athenaeum as those connected with the printing
trade. He contended that the greatest advantage
must be derived from their associating together in
such an institution as that proposed to be established.
It was computed that 5001. would be required for
the purpose, and they intended to raise that, not by
borrowing, but the subscriptions of members them-
selves—namely, to get 1,000 persons to pay 10s. for
annual tickets, and to make applications to those de-
pending on the printing trade for their contributions.
He believed they would get support, and for his owu
part he had no hesitation in saying he would himself
procure 200 members from his own particular
branch. He concluded by reading the resolution :
" That the resolutions cf the provisional committee,
whereby a fund is proposed to be raised through , the
sale of annual and life members' tickets, and by ho-
norary contributions, previous to opening the institu-
tion in question, be adopted by the meeting ; as a
practical means for commencing the undertaking free
from pecuniary risk, and upon a scale compatible
with the wants of its supporters."
Mr. KINGCOMBE seconded the motion, which being
spoken to by Mr. ROBERT PECKHAM, was passed
unanimously.
Mr. E. L. PARTRIDGE (compositor) proposed the
third resolution as follows :—" That this meeting is
of opinion that ' The Printers' Athenaeum' has claims
for support upon all persons engaged in the literature
of the country, as upon the ability and skill of the
printer the accuracy of the press is greatly dependent."
He dwelt on the exertions expected from compositors
at certain periods to enable authors to place their
books in the publishers' hands by a stated day, and
thought this fact alone gave them some claim to the
support of the literary world in their present endea-
vour.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. LLOYD (compositor) seconded the resolution,
which was also spoken to by Messrs. Rymer, Taylor,
Mackay, Miller, Byrne, and others, and carried una-
nimously.
A vote of thanks was then given to the Chairman,
who briefly replied, and the meeting separated. A.
great number of members were enrolled *ring the
evening.

NEW AlO DEMENT OF TILE ROMAN
CATHOLICS.
Arrangements are in progress for calling, on as early
a day as circumstances will admit, a provincial synod
of the newly-appointed hierarchy of the Roman Catholic
Church in England. The synod will be held in the
metropolis under the presidency of Cardinal Wiseman,
and the most important matter which will come under
consideration will be the nature of the canon law to be
adopted for the government of the Catholic Church in
this country.
It appears that it was in contemplation to hold the
synod some weeks since, but it was thought advisable to
postpone the proceedings until the arrival of Dr. Grant,
the newly-appointed Bishop of Southwark. That pre-
late baying now entered upon his episcopal duties, it is
said the twelve English bishops will be summoned by the
cardinal, and that they will be assisted by Dr. Made,
Archbishop of Tuam, in drawing up such a code of
canon law as shall be compatible with the social position
of the Catholics in this country.
Dr. Millale will arrive in London in the course of the
present week, and will in all probability preach in St.
George's Cathedral next Sunday morning.—Herald.

[ADVERTISEMENT.]—Richard Atkinson and Co.,
Irish poplin manufacturers to the Queen, her Royal High-
ness the Duchess of Kent, his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant,
&c., 31, College-green, Dublin.—Atkinson and Co. beg re-
spectfully to acquaint the nobility and gentry of Great
Britain, that they transmit specimens for
inspection per post
free, and any poplins ordered are sent free of expense to Lon-
don, Liverpool, Bristol, Plymouth, Falmouth, or Glasgow,
from whence they are forwarded as addressed without any
delay, and at the risk of Atkinson and Co.
THE PASSAGE AND SPEED or THE ROYAL MAIL
STEAM-Situ. AalA.—The Asia sailed from New 'York at
12.30 r.m., on the 10th inst., with a light S.S.E. wind and
thick fog; experienced south and east winds and variable
weather during the first three days of her passage, after
which she had moderate W.N.W. and S.W. winds until the
19th inst., at 11.20 P.M., on which day she made Cape Clear
in 9 days 10 hours and 50 minutes, apparent time. At 10.15
A.m. on the 20th inst., she was abreast of Tuskar, with thick,
foggy weather; at 9 P.M., slowed the engines and went
about in search of a pilot, but did not succeed in obtaining
one, in consequence of which she was compelled to lie to; at
11 A.M. yesterday, took a pilot four miles outside the Bell
Buoy ; and at 12.15 P.m., steamed past the Rock Lighthouse.
The Asia attained a very high rate of speed on this occasion,
having run 317, 307, 302, and 300 miles respectively per
diem ; and there is no doubt that, had she experienced clear
weather between Cape Clear and this port, this passage
would have obtained a forward place amongst her justly cele-
brated quick and regular voyages. However, if we allow 23
hours for her run from Cape Clear, which is rather over than
under what she usually occupies, her run would be 10 days
5 hours and five minutes, mean time.—Liverpool Albion.
PURCHASE OF LANDS IN IRELAND.--A very influ-
ential company has been formed in England, at the bead of
which is represented to be Prince Albert, for the purchase of
lands in this country. Their purchases are expected to be
on a most extensive scale, and persons in their employment
are now busied obtaining information on the spot as to the
position and value of various estates.—Dublin News Letter.
At the Glasgow Town Council on Thursday the
sum of 5001. was voted for an equestrian statute of the
Queen, in commemoration of her Majesty's visit to the city
in August,9B42. The private subscription towards the same
object already exceeds 3,0001., and the work will be gall'
menced forthwith,

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