The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-03-15 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD, TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 1853.

I Town Council, and other gentlemen walked in procession
from the Town-hall to the Museum. Within the reading
room, a large assemblage of ladies and gentlemen had
gathered. The Mayor and the Council proceeded to make
a tour of the collection and natural history specimens be-
queathed to the institution by the late Earl of Derby.
This collection comprises in all 20,000 ; the stuffed speci-
mens of animals numbering 600, of birds 11,000; while
the remaining 7,000 are in the skin. Mr. Moore, the
curator, has manifested much skill in the disposition of
the various tribes, both of birds and mammalia. The
birds occupy the whole of the four upper rooms. The
collection of imports made by Mr. Archer, and transmitted
to the Great Exhibition, has been placed in the larger of
the rooms down stairs. To the model of Liverpool, which
has been carefully completed under the personal super-
intendence of Mr. Beloe, a place has been assigned in one
of the upper apartments. Having completed the interest-
ing tour, the corporation took up their allotted position
in the reading-room, where, having mounted a temporary
tribune, his worship delivered the inaugural address.
He was sure that when they remembered that institutions
like that were for the benefit of all, he much mistook the
spirit, the generosity, and the intelligence of his fellow-
townsmen, if they would not cheerfully contribute a small
rate—amounting only to about a penny in the pound—for
a few years at least, until the corporate finances enabled
them to carry out the proposed improvements, and to
erect a more magnificent building. His worship con-
cluded as follows :—Hoping it may prove of that advan-
tage to the great mass of our population which I trust
and hope it will, and expressing the debt of gratitude that
I feel individually to that large class of my fellow-towns-
men whose friendship I have always enjoyed, and whose
friendship I hope I shall ever retain, I have now to declare,
in my official capacity, in the name and on behalf of the
Corporation of Liverpool ,and on behalf of the trustees whom
my Lord Derby has appointed to take care of this collection,
that it is from this clay to be open to the public at large.
The announcement was received with loud applause.—
The Rev. Rector Campbell, on behalf of the Derby
trustees, responded in a long speech. He said that in
such a parish as that of Liverpool, where, from the vast-
ness of the population, it was utterly impossible for him to
place himself in the communication that he should wish
to place himself in with the labouring classes, it was im-
possible for him not to be gratified with being permitted
to co-operate in a work where even harmless amusement
could be provided for them ; because he knew perfectly
well that amusements were provided by the Panders of
vice, the only tendency of which was to corrupt and
degrade the mind.—Mr. J. A. Picton, in compliance
with the wish of the committee, made afew observations
with respect to the present position and future prospects
of the institution. In regard to the want of accommoda-
tion in the library and the museum, he said the com-
mittee had made the best of everything, and he could
not better illustrate the difficulty of their task than by
stating that with respect to the museum, the problem they
had to solve was this : given 18,000 specimens of natural
history, to determine how to place them to advantage in
a space only calculated to hold 6,000. He threw out a
few hints as to how the institution might be aided ;
expressed the conviction that, to be of any service, it
must be a progressive institution ; and enforced the fact
that its condition in future times would unmistakeably
mark either the rise or decline of local literature, art,
and science. At the request of the Mayor, the Lordißishop
of Chester delivered a few remarks.—The Mayor then
announced that the museum would, in accordance with
the wishes of the noble donor, be closed on Wednesdays
to the public, in order that artists and others might have
an opportunity of copying the specimens; and that on
Saturdays it would be closed regularly for cleaning.—
Three cheers were then given for the Mayor, on the call
of Mr. Picton, and the assembly dispersed.

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION.
The Derby Museum opened, a large party assembled in
the theatre of the Royal Institution, to hear an address
from Mr. Jnseph B. Yates. The various departments of
this building were opened to the public, and the press
from which the first edition of the life of Lorenzo de Me-
dici was printed was placed in the vestibule, by Messrs.
Harris and Co., its owners. A poem of Roscoe's was
printed by it during the day, and sold for the benefit of
the Ragged Schools. Dr. Raffles, in proposing a vote of
thanks to Mr. Yates, indulged in some pleasing reminis-
cences of Roscoe. The assembly then separated to peram-
bulate the rooms of the institution, and also to visit Mr.
Mayer's Egyptian Museum and the Athenaeum, in the
latter of which were deposited numerous relics of Roscoe.