The Sun.
London, England, 1859-11-03 00:00:00

THE"I'SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 3, 1859;

EDUCATIONAL SOIREE AT MAN-

CIIESTISB.

On Tuesday evening, at the Free Trade Hall, the
Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P., distributed
prizes and certificates of honour to 133 students in
the Association of Mechanics' Institutes of Lanca-
shire and Cheshire. On the platform were Lord
Stanley, M.P. the Marquis of Chandos, the Hon.
the Hon. W. Egerton, M.P.,
A. Egerton,
Mr. Bazley, M.P., Mr. J. A. Turner, M.P., Mr. W.
N. Massey, M.P., Mr. W. Fairbairn, Mr. 0. Hey-
wood, Mr. E. 'Total, Sir J. Watts, and the Mayor
of Manchester. The great area of the hall and
galleries were closely filled with a respectable au-
dience, of whom a large proportion were ladies.
The following is a summary of the annual report,
read by Dr. J. W. Hinesoe to a conference of dele-
gates from the various institutions, held in the
afternoon, under the presidency of Mr. Bazley,
:—The association now consists of 110 literary
and mechanics' institutes and mutual improvemeet
societies, with 22,000 members, including 2,000
females, and they possess.in the aggregate 135,000
volumes in their libraries. Nearly all are increas-
ing in prosperity. Sixty-five institutions report an
increase of members this year; only six a diminu-
tion. The relative proportion of the Labouring
classes has been greatly augmented. The number
of male and female pupils attending the evening
classes of 72 institutions is 6,584, but the total num-
ber on the books of the several institutes exceeds
8,500. Twenty-three institutions have buildings
of their own, acquired at a cost of £82,774. The
assodiatecrinstitutes have been severally asked,
" What is the most attractive feature in your in-
stitution at present ?" Forty-five replies say, the
evening classes; 20, the newsroom ; 12, the
library; seven, tea-parties and discussions; and
three the lectures. The itinerating library proves
as attractive as ever, and the committee only regret
that the boxes of books are not far more numerous.
During the last three years upwards of 3,500
male and female candidates have been subjected
to a preliminary examination in spelling,
grammar; writing, and arithmetic. Out of
1.200 pupils • whose elementary knowledge
was tested by the preliminary examination held
this year, 403 males and 45 females were deemed
eligible for public examination. Out of this num-
ber prizes and certificates have been awarded to 123
males and 10 females. During the past year one
member of the Council has visited many of the in-
stitutes, and devoted two months to an inspection
of the working of the classes. It is believed that
the vitality and importance of the public examina-
tions are dependent in a great measure upon the
impetus and encouragement given by a visiting
agent of the Council. The committee cannot con-
ceal that the Government is slowly and steadily
rearing a strong opposition to the educational de-
partment of mechanics' institutions by the estab-
lishment of subsidized night schools for the instruc-
tion of the labouring classes during the years of
adolescence. The night schoolmaster, backed by
the public purse, when in his own building, is in
some cases enabled to offer lower terms to the work-
ing classes than the mechanics' institution, but
without its collateral advantages. The financial
position of the association has improved, the income
for the past year being £l7B lls. 3d., and the ba-
lance iu hand £22 lls.
Mr. DISRAELI, on taking the chair, was received
with loud and repeated cheering. He said—Nry
first and most agreeable duty is to acknowledge the
honour which you have done me by requesting that
on this occasion I should distribute the prizes of
Tour institutions. I have acceded willingly to the
invitation which I have received, because I sympa-
thise with your feelings and honour your efforts.
(Cheers.) Although for a long period I have my-
self taken a deep interest in what is called popular
education, and although, to speak frankly, I have
ever thought, considering the difficulties which,
in a country circumstanced as England is, that
question must always encounter, that one of the
most obvious means by which those difficulties
could be successfully dealt with would be by an
effort on the part of the people. themselves to
overcome them, I admit that I have felt much
disappointment in the results of those mechanics'
institutes that to-night will engage our conside-
ration, and whose efforts I once thought would
have been productive of far more benefit than for
some time they appear to have accomplished. Often
when thinking over the causes which may have
produced on the part of those institutions that de-
ficient success which I think all candid minds must
acknowledge has been, er rather had been, for some
time the effect of their operation, I have been in-
duced to believe that the reason of their compara-
tive failure might be traced in the isolation in which
an institutien of that character necessarily found
itself when it was established. After the first fever
and heat of original success had passed it seemed
almost obvious that in the comparatively restricted
area from which its resources could have been col-
lected, a great depression of action and a great de-
ficiency of sentiment must inevitably occur. It
would from such circumstances arise that there must
be a want of the experience, emulation, and energy
only to be furnished by a fund of thought, and feel-
ing, and activity, which the limited area whereon
a single institution of that character was founded
would inevitably fail to supply. It seemed to me
always that the mechanies' institute, or any institu-
tion of that character, necessarily was one thatcould
not stand alone. (Hear.) However. I have observed
of late years, and to-night we have a brilliant and
triumphant example of the success of the course to
which I shall have to refer, that you have, especially
in the north of England, endeavoured, and I think
successfully, to discover the principles by which you
might obviate or overcome those disadvantages.
You have thought it a wise and prudent course to
combine the action of a large number of bodies of
this character, and in so doing you have found a
succcess which I am not surprised that you have
been so fortunate as to meet with. You introduced,
indeed, that federal principle which in politics has
already accomplished many considerable results of
advantage, and which even at the present moment
may be successfully appealed to to meet some em-
barrassing circumstances Which we have to en-
counter. Now, the great advantage attendant on
the principle which in'the north of England in
several instances has been adopted with regard
to this institution was that you supplied all those
societies with one of their greatest deficiencies—
yoU supplied them with experience. When 100 or
more societies were bound together, in this combi-
nation of the institutes of the two counties, there
was a central point to which they might appeal for
advice, for sympathy, for information, for all those
beneficial forms which experience adopts and as-
sumes. Therefore, as respects the first want which
occasioned the corn arative failure of the isolated
mechanics' institutes, that was supplied by the happy
idea of combining in a federal union the various in-
stitutions of this character which the two counties
of Lancashire and Cheshire present. But that was
not suf.:lL:lent; experience, though advantageous, is
not all that you require in order to obtain the re-
sult which originally was anticipated from the
establishment of mechanics' institutes, or societies
of that character. But, having attained this great
advantage, this wider constitution, as it were, on
which you could move, you adopted an admirable
principle, new to this age, which ha; already in the
civil service of the nation produced most beneficial
ednsequences to the country and the State—that is,
the principle of competitive examination. I don't
think this is an occasion on which I ought to tres-
pass upon your attention, as. we have much interest-
inettnatter to touch upon, by dwelling upon the
merits of competitive examinatien ; but this I will
say, that, in the case of the institutions which have
formed the great society over whose fortunes we
arc met this night to deliberate, this important ad-
vantage was at once attained, that every man who
attended a class in these institutions for the sake of
acquiring knowledge, the moment the competitive
principle was introduced had a new object in the
prosecution of his studies, something which stimu-
lated him to acquire that information which we
have always impressed upon him it was so desirable
to obtain. Thus, as by the principle of uniting these
isolated societies together you obtained that expe-
rience which was wanting for the beneficial action
of your mechanics' institutes, so by adopting the
competitive principle in your examinations you ob-
tained the second great quality which was requisite,
and that was emulation. (Hear.) Having by these two
great changes secured two great desiderata—experi-
enee and emulation—you had yet to acquire another •
great quality necessary- for success, and that. was •
epe;•gy. 'When you required to find in a great so-
cietv, as the one with which we have to deal to-
night,
upon the conseeouursniensasuof all those who came in any •
degree under
various societies you obetr'aicne. By
union among the
but that •
waa.experience which miolietategx:4(elerileNev. or. might infNence few. By admitticogr lyoucrotellill)etltly e prin-
ciple in the examinations
aytoeldi
al
in-
troduced an active• principle which S't classes
those who fat confidence in their own powers to
cultivate those powers, and to obtain the public
approbation which was sanctioned by their posses-
sion of them. But when you had to deal with the
whole mass which you had to work upon, when
you wanted to infuse this generous spirit of energy,
it was necessary to have recourse to some mean:which might touch all, and the application of
which, at least in its principle and, constitution, all
might in time be susceptible of. Therefore it was
necessary that you should appeal to literature in its
most diffused power—the form of a library. In old
days—comparatively speaking old days, I mean—
of Mechanics' institutes and associations of mutual
education and culture, the common principle was to
take the first opportunity and to exhaust all pos-

sible means to establish a library. There was a
reverential feeling, which had long been settled in
the public mind, that a library was the fount of
knowledge, from which all might be fed and
nourished, and that this was the primary considera-
tion to be looked to when the education of the
people was concerned. But when you come to popu-
lar education, and to deal with a diffused popu-
lation, who have to acquire knowledge under great
difficulties, at uncertain moments, and in scat-
tered parts of the country, the fact is that, prac-
tically speaking, a library collected and esta-
blished in a great city or town exercises but a very
limited influence over those to whom you wish
it should convey knowledge and information. To
supply that deficiency those who have acted in
unison with societies like these flourishing in
the north of England (among them I know not
which has the precedence in the arrangements of
union, but at any rate my observations would apply
to all) have fixed upon the happy principle of a free
and itinerating library, that should circulate in
every part, that should bring information to every
hearth, and wherever there was a desire of know-
ledge should secure its being fairly satisfied.
(Cheers.) Thus you imparted a desire for informa-
tion, or established a machinery for imparting it, in
all quarters and in every direction ; thus you pre-
pared a population that should become in time
members of those institutions, and furnish students
in their classes ; and thus you added to the experi-
ence and emulation that you had already secured,
by the union of your associations and the competi-
tive examinations of your classes, that other quality
of energy which could only be supplied by a large
and growing population deeply impressed that it is
only by knowledge, the cultivation of their under-
standings, and the refinement of their tastes, that
they can elevate themselves in the social position of
their country. (Cheers.) I have thus_ lightly
touched upon what I think are the three important
features of the great revolution which has taken
place in institutions of this character within the
last few years. They were formed on a sound
' principle established with' a healthy feeling, and
ought to have accomplished considerable results. I
think they failed in that last great consequence.
But within these few years a very great change
has taken place, attributable to the recognition on
the part of the people of this country that there
was a deficiency of those qualities of experience,
emulation, and energy which I have referred to;
and that the limited area whereon the isolated in-
stitute was founded could not under any circum-
stances furnish the requisite supply. I have now
to ask myself, presiding over your meeting this
evening, has the new system, acting with these new
principles, produced other results of that satisfactory
and complete character so long desired, and which
all those who are interested in the advancement of
their fellowmen, have sincerely if fruitleslylaboared
for? (Cheers.) Let us answer that question. It
was said once that mechanics' institutes were very
good thin gs,but unfortu natelyno mechanics ever were
members of them. (Laughter.) Now, as far as lam
concerned, I am not prepared to condemn a me-
chanics' institute of which to mechanics are mem-
bers. Although it may have failed in the principal
object that we desired, still it is an institution,
however limited, of a beneficial character. But
what is the character of the institution which to-
night occupies our attention ? These are facts.
There are at this moment more, considerably more,
than 100 institutions in Lancashire and Cheshire
that are in unity together, and act in unison with a
central and guiding association. They number
22,000 members, of whom 8,500 are in habitual at-
tendance upon the evening classes. (Cheers.) Of
these 8,500 upwards of 1,200 voluntarily have come
forward and challenged all the difficulties and tests
of a competitive examination. (Cheers.) Those
1,200 have undergone at the hands of a committee
of the Central Association, a committee of scholars,
a local preliminary examination, in each of the
places of their particular interest and connection ;
and out of these between 400 and 500 have been
selected as competent to encounter an examination
which I can sincerely say, after having looked over
the papers submitted to them, was one that no
man could have confronted who had not taken
great pains to train his intellect, and to acquire
considerable knowledge. (Cheers.) But who are
the men who have done this ? What is the
class that has given these 8,500 pupils to the even-
ing classes, and supplied this great body of sponta-
neous competitors in a severe examination, and
ultimately yielded this select body of 500 who have
challenged, and a fifth of whom have gained, the
sanction of men of considerable acquirement and
weight, as having gone through a process which
none but men of a scholarly feeling and consider-
able strength of character could have encountered ?
Can it be said now that they are not working men?
Why, I have looked over the lists of those who have
obtained what we may call a first-class certificate
in many of those branches in which they have been
examined. I remember that, in algebra, mensuration,
geography, arithmetic, and history, first•class cer-
tificates have been obtained after a most severe and
scientific examination. And by whom ? By boys,
youths all of them under 20. The first-class certifi-
cate in algebra was obtained by a boy of 15, who,
by the bye, received a second-class certificate in
arithmetic also, I think—a boy working in a fac-
tory at ss. a week. (Cheers.) And who are those
men to whom I am to have the high honour to-
night of offering these recognitions of their labours

and their merit-? They areiactorgoperatives in all
the various classes of that branch rf labour. There

are weavers, minders, piecers, and every class of
factory labour is represented. Then there are real
mechanics, men who make machinery, and who
think over the principles by which these wonderful
results of art are accomplished. There are men who
work by manual labour, and earn weekly wages,
yet have submitted themselves to as severe and as
scientific a test, however limited it may be, as the
proudest university might offer; and in a competi-
tion distinguished by emulation they have obtained
the recognition of their intellectual power and their

admirable industry. (Cheers.) I think, then, the
question is completely disposed of; that the revolu-
tion which has silently been taking place in these
institutions, known perhaps only to those who hare
lived in the districts where it has occurred, has
been successfully accomplished; and that we can no
longer say that those establishments. have failed,
the object of which was to diffuse a love of 'know-
ledge, to cultivate the understandings and refine the
tastes of the great body of the working popu!ation.
On the contrary, they have succeeded, and.the test of
their success will be this evening laid before you.
(Cheers.) I would venture before sitting down to
make one or two remarks upon what I think is the

highly satisfactory characte; of this state of affairs
as regards that educational question which has so
long interested, and even agitated, the mind of this
country. (Cheers.) It is generally the custom with
those who occupy the position which I fill to-night,
when they offer rewards and recognitions of intellect
and industry, to dilate upon the advantage of know-
ledge in itself, to assure all those whom they address
that "knowledge is its own reward," and that its
acquisitipn is quite sufficient to compensate for all
exertions, and stimulate to further efforts. Certainly
I am the last man who would for a moment maintain

a contrary opinion. I know very well from my own
experience, as many must know who are here, that
there is a reward in learning which far outweighs all
the social. advantages of life; that knowledge is its
own exceeding reward ; and that whatever may be
the position of the individual, the possession of a
certain amount of knowledge will always alleviate
the circumstances that otherwise might be produc-
tive to him of discontent or annoyance. Least of
all would I maintain the contrary in this assembly,
because I have read a private letter, written by a
mechanic, to whom I shall have the gratification of
oiTering a reward tonight, in which ha declares that,
gratifying as it is to him that his merits are to be
acknowledged on this occasion, and that he is to re-
ceive a prize now as he received one also last year,
he is repaid for all his efforts by the pleasure which
knowledge alone imparts to him ; and he demands
no social elevation to stimulate him to the course
which he has embarked in and continues to prose-
cute, like many of the men I have been speaking of,
though he works 12 hours a day, as we all know that
many of those whom you live amongst must work in
this country. (Hear. hear.) It is not, therefore,
from any wish for a moment that you should sup-
pose me not to think that knowledge is in itself
an ample and complete reward that I am anxious
to meet some hard assertions that are often made
with regard to institutions of this kind, and
the great labour of love in which many are engaged
for the advancement of their fellow-creatures and
the dissemination of knowledge—some hard asser-
tions which would maintain that in a country like
this it is useless, or almost hopeless, for a man to
attempt to raise himself by cultivating his mind,
the obstacles to advancement being so very con-
siderable. Now, .1 am of a completely contrary
opinion. (Hear, hear.) I do not think there is
any fallacy greater than that which holds up Eng-
land as a country where it is difficult to advance for
those who have intelligence and integrity. (Hear.)
I quite admit that in a new country, in a new
colony, for example, where hula is not appropriated,
and there is a scattered population, there is at first
sight a coarse facility offered to physical enercry,
which reaps a rapid and considerable
reward. 6
Those opportunities, though obvious, are of a mono-
tonous character ; there is only one means, and that
means often becomes sooner exhausted than is ex-
pected. But, in a country of ancient civilisation, 1
maintain that according to the social combinations
the opportunities proportionately increase—that
there is a greater amount of social combinations
which allow a qualified individual to rise in the
world than in countries less advanced. (Hear.)
It would be presumption in me; who am only a

guest among you, to refer to the particular district
in which you are all most interested ; but assuming
that I address those who represent more or less all

the societies in union with the association over
which lam presiding. (Hear, hear.) I put it to
any man who is here whether in his personal ex-
perience he has or has not found that the possession
of knowledge has benefited him in his course through
life. I think it is an affair that ought to be settled
by facts. I speak, so far as you are concerned, with
great deference and diffidence ; but I never yet was
in any of the towns of the north distinguished for
their industry, where there have not been many men
who from their character, general intelligence, acti-
vity, and accumulated wealth, were qualified to
take a lead in society, to become members of Par-
liament and persons of consideration, where I have
not found that at least one of them was a man who
had risen from the ranks. (Cheers.) I cannot
doubt myself that the very fact that a mechanic
or an operative in the mills obtains a prize for
algebra or arithmetic, that even that comparatively
slight event does tot work considerably in his fa-
vour. I know what I should feel if I were a great
millowner if I found there was a boy in my employ
at Ss. a week who had won the first prize for al-
gebra at this institution. I should have my eye
upon that boy. (Loud cheers.) And that will tell
in every branch. That is not favour or patro-
nage •, that is a knowledge human nature—(hear)
—and a course of conduct which would act benefi-
cially for both parties concerned. (Hear.) I quote
instances connected with a district with which I
am not personally concerned with great reluctance,
for I do not wish to appear to speak second-hand,
but 1 was always very much struck by a circum-
stance which was mentioned in a public speech by
my noble friend on my right (Lord Stanley), who
has always sympathised with me in this cause—
(cheers)—and with whom I have often consulted as
to the means we should take for its promotion and.
success. I remember his pointing out to me a gen-
tleman in the House of Commons who had been
recently returned there, and he said," That is a
very able man, from whom I think something may
be expected." I won't mention his name, not because
I wish to avoid personalities, for, alas, he is no
longer among us ; a terrible and unforeseen acci-
dent took him from this world. But he (Lord
Stanley) said " That is a man who has one of the
greatest establishments in England"—l believe it
was the making of machines—" and that man
has three persons in his employment who
have all risen from the ranks, who are en-
gaged at a salary each of £1,500 a-year."
And, as my noble friend remarked to me on
the benches of the House of Commons, when we
were venturing to enjoy ourselves with a little private
conversation during a dull speech—(laughter)—
" You see how that gentleman is endeavouring to be-
come an under-secretary of State; why this manufac-
turer has got three men in his employ at the same
salary as an under-secretary of State." (Hear, hear,
and laughter) Now, Ido not mean to say that every
man who obtains a certificate at our institutions
will be employed by a master at the same salary ;
but these
,are facts not to be passed over with
negligence, and I want to know what country in
the world offers such a reward and such a premium
for intelligence and integrity as the one to which I
am referring ? (Cheers.) I know it may be said
that this is a very peculiar circumstance, that the
north of England is in possession of a considerable
industry of a remarkable kind ; but that it is "ex-
ceptional," to use a fashionable epithet, and that
you cannot pretend that in England generally that
is the course of human affairs. Now, I totally
differ again from this opinion ; and these are
opinions that are perpetually brought forward to
damp the ardour of the aspiring people of this
country. (Cheers.) I live in a part of the world
very different from the world in which the majority
of those by whom I am at present surrounded live.
(Hear, hear.) I live in a part of the world where
there are no great towns, and none of the obvious
means upon which you count to stimulate emula-
tion and to facilitate co-operation ; where the in-
dustry, though it is a great industry, is chiefly, if
not entirely, employed in the cultivation of land ;
and there we are constantly told that it is impos-
sible that an Englishman can rise. Well, now, I
have always been very much interested in the sub-
ject of how men rise in the world, and I have
analysed the community in which I live, and I find
myself surrounded by self-formed men, who by
their character and intelligence have raised them-
selves always to a respectable and often to an
influential position. (Hear.) I will venture to
give you an instance. A little while ago a farmer
asked me to dine with him in a barn. Now, the
barn I will not say was as noble a building as this
hall—(laughter)—but I can assure you it was a
barn in which a very considerable public meeting
might have been held. However, his public
meeting consisted only of his sons and two
generations besides of his descendants. (Laughter.)
There was a patriarch with i 0 or 80 of his
progeny—(great laughter)—and he had followed
the plough when a by upon the broad acres
which he had successfully cultivated; and he told
me that as now, though hot weary, he had had
sufficient of the labour of life, it was his intention
—and he fulfilled that intention—to divide his for-
-tune, which was not inconsiderable, among his sons,
and retire upon the rents of a freehold property
which he posseesed. Well, that is not a single
case ; it is a case I won't say not remarkable, but
one for which many paralle!s may even in the same
class of society be furnished. I could go through a
variety of instances in our rural life in which men
have risen to a considerable position under my eye,
as it were, and within my own experience, and I
hare found invariably that if a man has a head upon
his shoulders, whether he lives in Lancashire or
Buckinghamshire, he generally gets on in the
world. ("Hear," and laughter.) I would there-
fore impress upon those whom I have the honour

of addressing this evening, not for a moment to
suppose that all that they obtain by the effort
which they have made is that they are to be ap-
plauded by their tellow-citizens, and to be recog-
nized with momentary approbation under circum-
stances like the present. I want to impress upon
them that if they continue the efforts by which they
have arrived at this result, they will advance them-
selves in the social sphere, and will obtain that
which every Englishman ought as a right to look
forward to—the raising of his social condition.
Now, I would very humbly, if I might presume to
offer any advice, especially to young men who are
' present, I would say this, "Take this as an incon-
trovertible principle, accept this as a moral dogma
of your life—every man has his opportunity."
(Cheers.) Now, the great point is this; it may be a
long time coming—(laughter)—but, depend upon
it, it is sure to arrive, and what you have got to do
in the interval is to prepare yourself for that oppor-
tunity. (Cheers.) When I say that every man
has his opportunity, and venture to lay that down
as a principle which cannot for a moment bo con-
troverted, I will admit to you that many men have
their opportunity and are not capable of availing
themselves of it. (Hear, hear.) I will venture to
give you two instances occurring in my own expe-
rience within a very few months. A man may
not be able to avail himself of the inevitable oppor-
tunity, because he is deficient in ability or because
he is deficient in talent. Now, a young man entered
one of the public offices in which the preferment is
regulated by the system of routine and seniority.
When placed in that office he had a right to calcu-
lath on arriving in due time at a post which, to say
the least of it, is not only one of great emolument,
but one of no small consideration even, in the State.
I think he never had any very great confidence
when ho entered that office (Which was of course
many years ago), that he was competent for the
post which ultimately might devolve on him, but
no man likes unnecessarily to confess himself incom-
petent, and he hoped probably that by the time
when in course of seniority he would arrive at this
considerable place, he might somehow or other
shuffle through the responsibility of preferment. It
so happened, by a combination of circumstances
probably almost unexampled in the annals of official
life—(hear, hear)—that by the death of several in-
dividuals (some younger than himself), by the acces-
sion of one gentleman to a very great fortune, the
subject of my story was called upon, years before he
could have anticipated it, to fill the high post which
for more than 20 years he had known might sooner
or later be the prize of his existence. And he was
so dreadfully alarmed at the state of affairs that he
refused to accept that which for nearly a quarter of
a century he had been dreaming of. (Laughter.)
There was an instance of a man who has his oppor-
tunity, and, from a want of ability, is unable to seize
it. The other case was one in which I myself saw
how the affair went on. When I had the honour of
being in office, it was represented to me that there
was a young man who, like many of those who are
here, had had very few advantages, whose education
in fact might have been called an " adult education,"
but who was a very clever fellow, and had done a
great deal, and had obtained, probably, or I am sure
would have obtained, some of those recognitions of
merit which I have now to distribute; and though I
had never heard of him, or had theslightest acquaint-
ance with him, his name wAs brought before me
one of those instances of individual merit which it
would be, of course, a satisfaction to any genet ous
mind to advance and assist, and I said that I would
do what I could for him. Well, an opportunity
arising, he was by my recommendation preferred
by one of my friends to a pest, not of very great
emolument, but, considering that he was a young
man, one that would secure his independence, and
would have almost inevitably led him to a high
position in course of time, and not a very length-
ened course. Well, it was absolutely necessary that
he should be a French scholar. He was not a French
scholar. I see upon the paper before me that there

are members of this institute who have challenged
competition in French, and therefore I mention this
case to show you that there is a means even in this
association of men not losing such opportunities,
and of having that knowledgenf French which may
be requisite. That was an instance of opportunity
lost, not by want of ability, not by a want of ac-
quirement which an institution like this might have
furnished; and though you may smile, I say, and
ask you all to think of it when you are alone—and
dependupon it you will become serious—that every
man has an opportunity, and though he may not be
equal to the occasion that offers, it is not his destiny
that he onght to condemn, but his own indifference
or negligence. (Cheers.) Now, it is said, and it is a
very dangerous saying, though a very common one,
that " life is a lottery." Life is not a lottery. (Hear.)
Life is a science, and certain qualities and certain
talents, properly handled and properly managed,
' must lead to certain results. (Hear.) Depend upon
it, that this is a truth, which you must accept, which,

if you believe in, you will find a very soiisiderable
change in your life. No man has a right to be dis-
contented with his position if he accepts as a prin-
ciple of existence that an opportunity will be offered
him in the course of tint existence, because, until
the opportunity offers, he ought to be preparing
himself for it. And wl4 a source—l will not say
of amusement, that is a minor phrase—what a
source of interest and excitement is the continual
preparation for the inevitable occasion. (Cheers.)
Now, gentlemen, it is not, I am reminded, the first
time that my voice haS been heard in this city.
When I first came here to-day I thought it was the
. .

same hall in which I remember to have expressed
some opinions. What I said then to the youth of
Manchester I would say to that more enlarged as
that I now appeal to. Then I told them,
" Don't take a depressed view of your position, but
aspire, excel, advance." This is the advice that I
now offer,to you. (Cheers.) Since that time—now
15 years ago—very great changes have occurred in
the position of all of us, and in public events and
affairs. Some of the greatest revolutions that have
occurred in the history of man have occurred during
these 15 years. You have had dynasties changed
in the greatest countries, you have had discoveries
made which have affected your industry, and which
will infinitely more affect your industry greater
than those of the times of Cortez and Pizarro. But
there is one thing I am glad to say is not changed,
and that is the interest which the north of England,
and especially tuis district, has taken in the culti-
vation of the popular mind and the refinement of
the popular taste. (Cheers.) If there has been a
change in that, it has been changed in its most
captivating aspect, for it has been a change that has
assumed the fair form of progress. (Cheers.) I
see, by the records of your proceedings, that you
have the honour of a president in the Prince Con-
sort of her Majesty. (Cheers.) I see, by the re-
cord of your proceedings, that that is not a mere
formal appointment, but that he takes an active
part in the direction of your affairs, and that in that
very Free Library upon which I touched he has, by
the collection he has made and circulated, proved
the sincerity of his convictions and the earnestness
of his tastes. Why, it is only two months ago
that that august Prince, august not merely
from his position, but because he has placed him-
self at all times, and often under great difficulties,
at the head of every movement which advances
the education of the people and the refinement
of their tastes (cheers), met the assembled philo-
sophers of England in a northern city. There he
addressed them in a manner with which many of
you are acquainted, and which was equal to the oc-
casion ; there lie met the assembled science and in-
tellect of England, and by the spirit with which he
touched upon the subject of their investigations they
discerned in him not an ornamental member merely
of their society, but one who was a brother, equal to
them in the knowledge which occupied their atten-
tion at that moment. (Cheers.) Well, but the
princely president of these philosophers is also the
president, an 1 the sincere president, of this humbler
effort to educate the people of England. (Cheers.)
And believe me, I speak to those especially who have
made a noble effort under great sacrifices of time, and
often, when worn out with the toil of the day, dedi-
cating their spare moments to the studies of the
night—l say the time may come, if you pursue the
same means, inspired by the same feelings, that
some of you whom to-night I shall publicly recog-
nise for your acquirements and your abilities may
perhaps meet that proud assembly of philosophy on
the equal terms which intellect and knowledge can
alone command, and be recognised as brothers even
by the illustrious of the land. (Great cheering.)
The Chairman then awarded the prizes and cer-
tificates of the successful candidates. Dr. lludson
read the names of the candidates as they appeared
upon the platform, and stated the age. and calling
in life of each.

Lord STANLEY, on rising to address the meeting,
was loudly cheered. Ha spoke as follows :—Mr.
Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen,—l must confeSs I
am almost overpewerei by the kindness of this re-
ception. My voice is but feeble, but I will do the best
I can to make you hear me. (Cheers.) Gentlemen,
although it has never been my fortune to attend, or
even to witness, a meeting so vast and so important
as this assembled for any educational purpose, yet
for several years I have felt, and have endeavoured
publicly to express a deep interest in the cause of
popular education in these districts. And although
that cause may have many more eloquent advo-
cates, I can assure you that within this county it
has no mire cordial or more constant friend.
(Cheers.) I have heard, therefore, with peculiar
satisfaction the speech of my friend and late col-
league, Mr. Disraeli, to-night. I have heard it with
an entire agreement in the sentiment which it
embodies, and I heard it with pleasure also on
another ground, because my friend is entitled far
more than I can pretend to be to address you in
what I may call a representative capacity. He is
the organ and spokesman in Parliament and before
the public of a large section of the territorial inte-
rest of this country; and although from meetings of
this kind all reference to political affairs is wisely
and necessarily excluded, yet standing here on this
platform as the advocate of an educational move-
ment, he seemed to me to convey from those whom
he represents, from those who act with him and
support him in political life, a message of sympathy
and friendly feeling, an assurance that these classes
be they politicians, be they landowners, be they
capitalists or mercantile men, are not insensible or
indifferent to the hopes, to the aspirations' and to
the ideas of Lancashire workmen. (Cheers.) Gentle-
men, it would be quite idle at this time to detain
you with any mere generalities upon the advantage
or expediency of extending popular education. Every one now is in favour of it, at least ostensibly;
no one disputes its advantages, and hardly does any
one deny its necessity. (Hear, hear.) Parliament,
which does not anticipate the public opinion of the
country, but which generally, when that opinion is
recognised and declared, follows it, though it may
be after some interval of time—Parliament has
evinoed its practical sincerity in the cause by voting
yearly in shape of grants in aid to schools for the
working classes a sum which now amounts to about
three-quarters of a million, and which, if the pre-
sent system be continued, will soon reach a much
larger amount. The only controversy into which any
rational man now enters upon this subject is, not
whether instruction should be:extended as widely
as possible, but what is the form in which it should
be given, and what is the machinery by which it
may be most effectually promoted. Now, gentlemen,
I don't want to enter into any topics which have
been in former years, and which may be again sub-
jects of Parliamentary controversy and dis-
pute ; but this you will allow me to say in
passing, for it expresses a profound conviction
which I have long entertained, that if we are
ever to have that which I believe would be a great
public boon, that which I believe would be a great
administrative reform—if we are ever to have a
really national and effective system of school teach-
ing for the poorer classes of this country, that is a
boon which you will not receive at the hands of edu-
cationists or of politicians. (I-fear.) I don't de-
spair of seeing it, but the people of this country
will obtain it only when they can makeup their
minds to do that which the people of America have
done long ago—when they make up their minds to
petition for it, to require it, to demand it as a right
at the hands of the Legislature and the Government
—then they will obtain it, and not, I believe, until
then. (Cheers.) In the meanwhile, you who have
attended this meeting, you who belong to educa-
tional institutions like that on behalf of which we
are assembled to-night, you are furnishing a solution
to this great educational problem—a solution neces-
sarily partial, very partial and incomplete, but
which, as far as it goes, is at least satisfavtory and
simple. You are taking the matter into your own
hands ; you are creating, or rather augmenting and
stimulating, that demand for a system of teaching
increased in amount, and better in quality ; you
arc creating a class which will make its voice heard,
and which will insist upon it when the time comes
that their children shall obtain greater advantages
in the way of school instruction than fell to their
own lot in youth. (Applause.) Gentlemen, it is
a common belief—it is a belief so generally diffused
that I have a right to refer to it to-night—that
these literary and educational institutions, by which
the want of popular instruction is in part sup-
phlaive de
inquired that these local, unsectarian,
self-supportingindepen-
dent,ore n in t
o institutionstiat subject,
havea nd
sbpeeealiikno:
the whole •ather a failure than a success. I
here I am hound to say, I believe that that opi-
nion, however generally prevalent, is a mistake. d
(He,r, hear.) Local and partial failures, no o t,
there may have been, as there will be again,
and as there are in all enterprises of all descrip-
tions. Here and there you have a mechanics'

institute which is a failure, because the, want
which it was chiefly established to satisfy is sup-
plied in another quarter by that abundant diffu-
sion of cheap books and cheap newspapers which is
so remarkable a feature of the present day. 7.(1-leer,
hear.) In other places you have schemes originally
too ambitious and extensive, which have had in the
course of time to be abandoned or curtailed. In
other places, perhaps, there has been for a time an
enthusiasm rather fictitious than real, stimulated by
novelty, and perhaps by opposition ; and when the
novelty went off and the opposition was withdrawn,
then the scheme has fallen through for want of sup-
port. But these are local and partial instances, and,
speaking generally, taking this council throughout,
I find we have in Great Britain upwards of 1,000
literary and educational institutions, intended for,
and mainly supported by, the working classes. I
find that these institutions number upwards of
150,000 members, and that they circulate by their
libraries above 1,000,000 volumes. (Cheers.) Now,
I don't say that that result is entirely satisfactory,
considering the high development which civilzation
has attained at the present day; I have no doubt
that we might, that wo ought, and that we shall
do much more in this respect than has hitherto been
done. But when I compare the present with the
past, in that way look forward to the future,—l
ren.ember that this movement was set on foot not
much more than 30 years ago—l remember the
difficulties which in a country like this precede
every new enterprise, and the opposition wh;ch
these institutions at first encountered, and when I
turn from the case of England generally to that
with which we are more immediately concerned, to
the case of the county of Lancaster, I find good rea-
son to entertain sanguine hopes for the future, when
we compare the present with the very recent past.
I find in the year in which my right hon. friend
last addressed you on a somewhat similar subject in
this city, in the year 1844, there were but 44 of
this class of educational institutions within the
county of Lancaster. Six years later, and these
44 institutions had increased to 66 ; nine years
more—bringing us to the present day—and in-
stead of 66 we have 100, containing nearly 18,000
members, and circulating something like 120,000
volumes. (Cheers.) I wish you to bear in mind
that we have just five of these institutions now
for every two that existed 15 years ago—(hear,
hear)—and their resources have increased in a simi-
lar proportion. (Cheers) I think, therefore, that
though we may look upon the progress of popular
instruction as not absolutely satisfactory, we have
no right, with this evidence before us, to regard it
as having been a failure. (Hear, hear.) And now,
turning from the more general subject to the cir-
cumstances and to the prospects of this association,
I would say, in the first place, that I apprehend
that there are three conditions which it is indispen-
sable that every really valuable institution for the
purpose of adult teaching should fulfil. One of
these conditions is, that the institution should be
unsectarian ; the next, that it should be really main-
tained and really supported by those who fre-
quent it, and not merely bestowed as a gift from the
charity or the benevolence of any individual.
(Hear, hear.) And the last is the common fault of
popular teaching--and when I say popular teaching
I mean teaching where necessarily the time both of
the teacher and the pupil is limited; the common
fault of this teaching should be avoided, and the
instruction given, so far as it goes, should not be
vague and superficial, but real, substantial, and
accurate. (Cheers.) I am happy to believe that
this association satisfies all these conditions.
(Hear, hear.) By your association all denomina-
tions are treated alike. The institutions that form
your union are, in the main, though not quite, ex-
clusively maintained out of the funds of those who
use them; and that system of education of which
we have witnessed one result to-night furnishes the
most effectual check—l believe the only real and
certain check—against the mere show of attainment
as distinguished from the substance. You will allow
me to say one word on the subject of these exami-
nations. I believe them to be of great use, and I
attach to them the greatest value. In the first place,
I do not believe that any course of mere reading, by
itself, in which a pupil is not called upon to repro-
duce in some form or another that which he has
learned, can ever ensure that accuracy which is in-
dispensable to all real progress. (Loud cheers.)
The old cant phrase is as true now as when it was
first uttered—if it be reading which makes the full
man, it is writing which makes the exact man. I
think that these trials of mental strength and skill
supply an additional and very valuable incentive to
study; they supply the stimulus of that healthy
personal competition between man and man which
is so powerful an eleme'ut in the training of our
universities and public schools. They give to young
men and to lads—such as have passed upon this
platform to-night—they give to young men of
talent and industry an opportunity of early bring-
ing themselves forward into public notice, and
of obtaining a certificate, not only of intellectual
proficiency, but also, generally speaking, of steadi-
ness and good conduct—a certificate which is 91
least unbiassed, and which naturally will have
weight with those who have employment to give.
Again, these examinations furnish employers—and
I think they, too, ought to be grateful for the boon
—with a more certain and ready means than they
would otherwise possess of choosing young men
for situations requiring intelligence and skill.
(Hear, hear.) And lastly—that to which Ido not
attach less importance than to any of the considera-
tions I have mentioned before—they enable the
public of this district to do that which we are
doing to-night—publicly to recognise the claims to
our honour and our respect of perseverance, ofin-
telligence, and of mental culture, in whatever
station of life they may be found. (Cheers.) My
friend, gentlemen, has anticipated me in remarking
upon that which is the characteristic feature of this
association, viz., that union of separate institutions
by which the area of competition is so much en-
larged, and the material resources of all are placed
at the disposal of each. I will not go over the
ground which he has covered, but let me say that
there are two features in the report laid before us
which I have noted with peculiar satisfaction. One
of these relates to the class of subjects which are
dealt within these examinations; the other relates
to the class of persons by whom the examinations
are attended. With regard, first, to the subjects,
the common and natural danger, as I have said
before, of all those whose time for the acquisition of
knowlege is limited, is the attempt to do too much in
too short a period, and rather to attempt a wide range
of acquirement than to begin with the most ordinary
and necessary branches of knowledge. (Hear, hear.)
And, judging from what I have observed elsewhere,
that might be the case here ; but looking at the ex-
amination list, I have been agreeably disappointed.
I find that out of the whole number of papers sent
in during the last year (634) I think very much
more than one-half (363) out of the whole are on the
common, plain, homely, elementary subjects of
arithmetic and grammar. That is a small matter,
but it seems to me a hopeful symptom, and proves
to me tho reality and vitality of the work which
you are endeavouring to do. (Hear, hear.) The
other point which I wish to notice your chairman
has alluded to to-night—l mean to the old story
that mechanics' institutions were excellent in every
other respect except that there was not a mechanic
within their walls. I looked to see whether it was
possible that any imputation of that kind, so far as
it is an imputation, could be fastened upon an insti-
tution which we are supporting, and I find the
most practical proof to the contrary. Out of the
404 who have gone into the last examination, I
observe 192, or nearly one-half of the whole are re-
tinned as persons employed in mills; I find that
about 102 are returned as mechanics and persons
employed in foundries, and, as far as I can judge
from an inspection of the list, it seems to me that
the remainder, with few exceptions, belong to the
same social position of life. I think, therefore, you
may congratulate yourselves upon two very real
and substantial results—(cheers)--you may affirm
with confidence that this association is improving,
and is testing that class of knowledge which is most
required, and which it professes to give; and you
may affirm with equal confidence that that know-
ledge is communicated to the class for whom it is
intended, and that the resources of the association
are not diverted to the benefit of any other class.
Gentlemen, you have heard, and it is not necessary
that I should remind you, of the position and pros-
pects of the association. It is, I believe, at
present only in its sixth year, and when I
hear that it numbers 110 institutions, 22,000 mem-
bers, 130,000 volumes, 8,000 pupils in the evening
classes, and that 1,200 of these pupils last year of-
fered themselves for examination, I feel that these
plain facts will peak far more eloquently than any
words that I can use in behalf of the resolution
which, with your permission, I am now about to
move :

"That the success which has atte ded the operations of
the Association of Lancashire and Cheshire Mechanics' In-
stitutes is the best proof which can be adduced of the value
of the union, and of its claims to the continued and in-
creased support of all who desire to promote the moral and
s )citd welfare of the industrial classes."

The lion. ALGERNON EGERTON, M.P., seconded
the resolution, which was carried.
Mr. W. N. MASSEY, M.P., moved a voto of thanks
to the examiners who had conducted the public and
private examinations for the association.
The Marquis of CHANDOS seconded the resolution
which was carried.

Mr. Ivie Mackie then took the chair, and the
lion. A. EGERTON, M.P., moved the following
resolution :

"That the best thanks of this meeting are hereby awarded
to the Right Ilon. Benjamin Disraeli, M.P., for the great
ability and courtesy with which he has performed the duties
of chairman ; and this meeting also desires to express its
sense of the great honour whiebt,lo hag conferred upon the

Association of Lancashire and Cheshire Mechanics' In.
stitutes."

The motion was seconded by Mr. OLIVER HEY-
WOOD, and carried with prolonged cheering.
Mr. DISRAELI returned thanks on behalf of him-
self and Lord Stanley, and said he had ever believed
that the education of the people, in a great measure,
must depend upon their own exertions. He was
convinced himself that if education were diffused, a
man of intelligence and integrity would find the
right social position to which he was entitled. He
did not say that intelligence alone could succeed, or
) that integrity alone could succeed in this world ;
but this he would say, that intelligence and integ-
rity combined was the strongest firm in the world.
The proceedings terminated at half-past 10
o'clock.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, Nov. 2.

(Before the Assistant-Judge.)
William Raymond, 23, and John Jones, 27, wen
indicted for feloniously breaking and entering the
shop of John Jones Vaughan, and stealing therein
gold rings of the value of £464, his property.
The jury found them guilty, and former convic-
tions were proved against both.
The Assistant-Judge having commented upon the
atrocious and daring character of the robbery,
passed upon each of the prisoners a sentence of 10
years' penal servitude.
With reference to the witness Mrs. Berard, Mr.
Metcalfe considerately caused some inquiry to be
made, the result of which he communicated to the
Court. In consequence,
The Assistant-Judge called her back into the wit-
ness-box, and said—From what I have heard, the
Court has some reason to believe that you are in
circumstances which will render a pecuniary remu-
neration for your praiseworthy conduct not unac-
ceptable. Were you not in such circumstances,
you no doubt would have been content to receive
,the thanks of the Court for the service you have
rendered to, the public by mainly contributing to
the apprehension of two desperate offenders, who
seemed to be under no hesitation as to the means by
which they should carry out their schemes of plun-
der and depredation. Your conduct was both cou-
rageous and praiseworthy; the Court thanks you
for it, and, acting under the power given us by the
statute, I direct that a reward of £5 be given to
you in addition to your ordinary costs as a witness.
William Harrison, 20, and John Rogers, 19, were
indicted for stealing a watch, value £l5, the pro-
perty of Henry Leslie Grove, from his person, at
the funeral of the late Mr. R)bert Stephenson.
The offence was committed at the corner of Dean's-
yard, and was clearly proved against the prisoners.
They were detected by Henry Smith, 28 A.
The jury found both guilty.
Deeble, 195 H, said the prisoners were known,
and if they were remanded for judgment the offi-
cer would be able to furnish the Court with a full
account of them.

Judgment was therefore deferred until next ses,
sions.

Louisa Ward, 58, was indicted for stealing a
pocket-book containing 155., from the person of
Louisa Dunks, and for stealing a purse containing
a sovereign and other money from the person of
Elizabeth, the wife of Thomas French. These rob-
beries were committed in an omnibus.

The prisoner pleaded guilty to one charge, and
was found guilty on the other.
In each case the prosecutrix had her pocket on
the outside of her dress, and each admitted that
pockets so placed were very liable to the depreda-
tions of pickpockets in public vehicles.
Mr. Pownall (chairman of the bench) observed
that thls matter, though very simple in itself—the
mode in which a lady wore her pocket—was one
which ought to receive some attention, .as to
whether a female who so wore her pocket, and was,
in consequence of her own carelessness, robbed of
her purse, ought to receive her expenses as a wit-
ness. They ought to he more careful. If a female
got into an omnibus with her pocket so exposed in
the front of her dress as 'to excite evil persons to
help themselves if they could to what that pocket
contained, the fiult was almost her own. Besides
this, the pockets were so exposed that any person
ridine, in an omnibus might be charged with hav-
ing his hands in improper contact with the pocket
of any lady he might be sitting next. Ladies, he
would take the liberty of obscrvng, if they wished
to avoid the inconvenience as well as the loss of
being eased of their purses in public vehicles, would
do well to do as their grandmothers or great-
grandmothers did—wear their pockets under their
petticoats, where they would be secure from these
mischievous depredators. It was really a strange
matter that persons would not take ordinary pre-
caution to protect themselves from this sort of theft.
This " lecture," if it may be so termed, to the
female portion of the auditory was given in all
good humour by the worthy chairman, whose re-
marks excited a general smile. Then came another
curious, almost romantic, incident.
The Assistant-Judge (to the prisoner)—You are
indicted here in the name of Ward. Have you
always been known by that name ?
Prisoner—l was married to a person of the name
of Tompsctt, but I have since adopted the name of
Ward, my maiden name.
The Assistant-Judge—Did you ever meet with
au accident in Fleet-street ?
Prisoner—Yes, your lordship.
The Assistant-Judge—A good many years ago;
something near upon 15 ?
Prisoner—Yes, my lord, about that.
The Assistant-Judge said it was somewhat re-
markable; but he had recognised the woman in the
dock, having witnessed the accident which hap-
pened to her so many years ago ; in fact, he saw
her knocked down by a horse in Fleet-street, and it
was he himself who picked her up in an insensible
state. At that time, from inquiries he caused to be
made, he found her character was good, and she was
assisted by some benevolent persons he was ac-
quainted with. She was then struggling hard to
support a boy, who had since, he had heard in the
course of the case, turned out a bad one; but pro-
bably that was to be accounted for by the bad
example of a bad parent. It was painful for him
to have to pass sentence under such circumstances,
but he could not do so more leniently than a due
sense of justice compelled him. Fortunately, there
was no former conviction against her; had there
been, the case must have been treated seriously.
These were not ordinary robberies; but the pri-
soner had, it appeared, commenced late in life, and,
after undergoing a term of imprisonment, might
return to honest ways and strive to pass the re-
mainder of her life in integrity. His lordship
then sentenced the prisoner to six months' hard
labour.