The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-11-01 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR Or THE NORTHERN DAILY TIMES,

attention has been directed to a statement in
your paper of the 24th instant, entitled "Extraordinary scene
at St. Michael's,Church, Pitt-street." In this statement Mr.
itlorrall is said to have engaged, in place of Mr. Bardslcy,
"the curate of St. Mark's, who is supposed to be favourable
to Puseyism." I beg to observe that I have no connexion
with St. Michael's Church ; and, furthermore, that I have no
sympathy whatever with the Puseyite sentiments with which
your informant identities me.
Hoping that you will be good enough to insert this contra-
diction in your next impression, I remain, your obedient ser-
vant, THOMAS W. MOISRANt
Liverpool, October V0th,1853. Curate of St. Mark's.
It was stated in the account which we copied from the
Northern Times, that Alderman LA.WREATE was one of
those who left the church, We have authority from that
gentleman to say that he was not present, and further,
that he altogether disapproves of the conduct pursued.
Since the above was in type, we learn that,a mutual and
friendly arrangement has been effected, by which it is
hoped that all unseemly differences and unhappy contro-
versies will cease. By this arrangement, which has been
effected through the kindly offices of the Lord Bishop and
the 'Yen. Archdeacon, it is intended that Mr. Carpenter
shall take the Morning Service every Sunday; Mr. Bardsley
the Afternoon Service ; and Mr. Morrali the Evening Ser-
vice. This arrangement, it is understood, is to be tried for
the ensuing year.

MR. BAINBRIGGE'S LECTURES ON
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TILE MIND.

Ox Friday evening, W. H. Bainbrigge, Esq., F.R.C.S.,
delivered the fourth and concluding lecture of his series, on
the• physiology of the mind, in the Collegiate Institution.
These lectures have been gaining in popular appreciation,
and each succeeding lecture hasbeen more fully attended
than, its predecessor, the inffuential character of the audi-
ence, as well as their numbers, having been also- on, the
increase.
Mr. BAINBRIGGE commenced by remarking that every
one is familiar with the diversities observable in theitarnan
countenance, which are not, he'observed, more markedly
distinct than are the varying shades of inward character.
Knowing this, the first great point should be, to ascer-
tain the peculiarities of disposition children manifest in
the first dawning of their character. For this purpose
constant observation is necessary, to enable us to direct
the undeveloped faculties, and to secure a fixedness of
character; otherwise our best efforts' would be little more
than like seed, sown at a venture, which may bring forth
fruit, either for good or for evil.
The characteristics of a robust child are seldom those
of one of delicate conformation. One is prone to be hasty
and impetuous ,•-• the other to be sensitive and shrinking:-
The one is too bold for falsehood ; the other has not reso-
lution enough' for truth. The integrity of the first may
spring from structural energy ; the evasive prevarication
of'the second from an enfeebled condition of the system.
In fact, there may exist 'a keener perception of right in
the one who violates it, than in the other, whose daunt-
lessness carries him on by the straight line: Industry and
indolence may, likewise, be traced to physical causes.
If .the passions have a powerful influence upon the
character, sometimes imparting to it injurious impulses,
the affections offer- themselves as divinely implanted
ministers of good. Love guides with a silken string, sub-
duing the headstrong, and stimulating the depressed.
The predominant feeling of this passion is to impel to the
performance of all that may be agreeable to- the object of
ft. Enjoying the love of our children, we can lead them
to their own happiness. Love will strengthen them to
overcome passion, and: teach them to lift their thoughts
to another world. Hope is another of those heaven-im-
planted aspirations which lead to a high degree of excel-
lence in every walk of. life. Without hope, the human
mind would soon become a blank : what would action be
without hope ? Nay, what action could there be without
hope? When based upon good principles, hope acts as a
powerful incentive to good conduct ; and the complacency
of mind resulting from it, when operating under these
conditions, has also a beneficial influence on the. bodily
health. Depression orspirits, by diminishing the energy
of the circulation, and so loading the lungs with an accu-
mulation of blood, is often confirmed into disease.- Fear is
one of those emotions of, the mind most injurious to the
body.. It is the unhappy offspring of our knowledge of
evil: Wiat could man have feared, had he not learned to
sin.? and; sinning, to fear? Fear prostrates the mind,
and, under its impulses, the processes of education, in-
stead of being progressive, is retrograde ; and just as hope
leads on to ,r,..llenco, n 10e5 rear crusn down. into im-
becility. Emulation ought to be sedulously discouraged ;
it promotes rivalry with- its strife ; desire of superiority
with its enmity ; and aims, not so much at the attainment
of good for its own sake, as self-aggrandisement and ap-
plause. Sensibility is another dangerous passion,. when
left unguided; but full- of rare promise when turned into
a salutary channel. Ridicule has often great influence
over the minds of children, and it may deter from the
commission of vice or- of folly, but never purifies the
heart. That the emotions of love, of hope, of fear, of
ridicule, powerfully influence the physical condition, was
unknown by men in the darker ages of the world.: Know-
ledge, springing from enlarged civilisation, alone has in-
structed us in this. Be it remembered, that- the mind
cannot act without material instruments, and that all
knowledge must be acquired through the instrumentality
of the outward organs. In the brain we haven union of
all the varied structures of the nervous apparatus. The
brain is the instrument by which the mind acts externally.
The emotions of which we have been speaking affect the
body through this means.
While the passions-act intermittingly with more or legs`
vigour, by frequency. of operation they create habit-in the
mind : this is denominated temper. The variety of the
phases of temper is innumerable, and its peculiarities in,
each particular case should be the subject of anxiOus
solicitude to the parent and preceptor. What is natural,
cannot be eradicated, but the asperities of 'bad temper
may be softened by judicious management. Perhaps no
one point in the whole range of education so much affects
the happiness of the individual as well as the circle coming-
within his influence as temper. 111-temper is easily made
habitual throughohysical causes. In inniunerableinstancesi
it is induced through the body, more than the heart or the
mind. In regard to this peculiar affection, there is a value in
example far above the power of words. The presence of
a gloomy person, casts a shadow over all, while there, is an
atmosphere of sunshine wherever a cheerful person comes.
The genial influence of an amiable temper, in a parent or
preceptor, is not only reflected but perpetuated; who can
say to what extent ?
A most important point connected- with education is
carefully to avoid forcing a too early development of the
faculties. We defeat our own object by labouring to
attain too much. The brain of the child is just as in-
capable of increasing exertion as his.body,, and we might
as well expect that lie could dig in the fields the day long,
as that he could fix his mind to study for many consecutive
hours. In. some the structure appropriated to thefunctions
of the organic life is weak and defective, requiring the
increasing vigilance of affection, and the prudence of a
well-informed judgment, to preserve it in the best con-
dition possible to its own feeble conformation ; while in
others the whole organic frame is so strongly constructed
as to be capable of often repeated and extreme exertion.
Exertion and repose must each prepare the way for the

other. Properly apportioned activity augments the func-
tions called into requisition, while its excess impairs and
enfeebles them ; on the other hand; if they are left in com-
parative disuse, they soon fall into decay and impotence.
The want of observation on this subject has often been the
source of the deepest affliction the human heart could feel..
The life of many a child, whose mind was full of the-
rarest germs of hope,has been sacrificed, just because the
activity of the brain was not prudently repressed. Nay—
still worse—perhaps unwisely stimulated, by praise and,
promises,—by emulations and rewards. What has been
the consequence ?- What will ever be the consequence of
this violation of the laws of Nature ? It will be read on
the tombstones of. innumerable little grass-grown mounds,
bearing the names of those who lie cradled in almost in-
fant graves, who might have lived, to love, and bless us
with their presence (I speak, I hope, always under sub-
mission to the Divine will), had the great laws of phy-
siological education been regarded in their training. Rest
and activity must have alternate intervals, just as day and
night succeed each other, if we would have the processes of
our humanity go smoothly on. Hence, that most merciful
provision, sleep, which was ordained as a relaxation from
the labours. of the mind and body.
System and method are, undoubtally, the most able
assistants to the minds of the young, in all progressive
education. The same exercise of the same faculties, at
the same hour as each day revolves, brings with it all the
ease of habit, either associating with it the inclination for
the labour, or supplying its place with that species of
mechanical habit, which is so much like instinct. After
recapitulating, at considerable length, the various topics
which had been treated of in the course of the preceding
lectures, and demonstrating their sequence and mutual
dependence, the learned gentleman proceeded.
In concluding these lectures, I may be allowed to give
my opinion upon the comparative advantages of public
and private education. I refer, of course. to boys only.
The acquisition of scientific, mathematical, and classical
learning, are the objects of the young student's studies.
But mere scholastic lore, though of great, is only of se-
condary importance. Time, m its rapid flight, will soon
ripen the youth into manhood, and place him amid the
busy scenes of active life. He will then have to contend
with men; whose energies and passions are strained to
attain the objects of ambition ; envy, malice, re-
venge, and that most formidabe of all passions—
the love of money, with the vulgar pride which it
engenders, when wealth crowns the hopes which it has
raised. Surely it is desirable that the youth should have
had opportunities of acquiring a knowledge of the human
heart before he is removed to that active stage upon which
all the various passions are displayed, not in mimic repre-
sentation, but in painful reality. And what place so
calculated to enable the boy to learn this necessary know-
ledge as a public school ? A large seminary may be termed
the world in miniature, and all the passions which are
there conspicuous may in their germ and incipient state
be seen among school-fellows. For there is not a passion
which agitates the bosom of the man but which may be
e
i
discerned in the boy. As practical wisdom, therefore, is
more valuable than theoretical knowledge, in my judg-
ment a public school is to be preferred to any private
mode of education, For 11C vimurefl that there will OM-