The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-11-23 00:00:00

THE MANCHESTER ATHENEUM SOIREE.

This great meeting ofliterati, which had long previously
been announced, took place on Thursday evening, at the
Free Trade Hall. Mr. Alison, the president, occupied
the chair, and amongst those present, were Mr. Cobden,
Mr. Bright, Mr. Cruikshank, Lord Brackley, Mr. R. W.
Emerson, Mr. Harrison Ainsworth, Dr. Bowring, &c.,
&c., also a deputation from the Liverpool Roscoe Club.
The CHAIRMAN, addressing the meeting, adverted to
his inability to do justice to the position in which he was
placed, and paid high compliments to the distinguished
literary gentlemen who had before so eloquently spoken
from that, platform, and to their works which were so
widely known. He alluded to Dickens, D'lsraeli,
Serjeant Talfourd, Lord Murpeth, and others. Literature
had been his own delight, but he had pursued it only
during hours of leisure from, more laborious duties. He
would thus say from experience, that it was possible to
unite business and literature, and he had found literature
a solace to a life of labour, With allusion to the honour
conferred upon him; peculiarly grateful to his feelings,
he said he had lived long in Scotland, but was a native
of England, and when their kindness re-called him, it.
was to the land of his birth. There was a natural con-
nection which has made itself manifest in every age be-
tween commerce and intellectual eminence, and the
greatest steps in human improvement, the greatest marvels
of human exertions have arisen from their combination.
It was to the commercial city of Tyre that we owe the
invention of letters—that wonderful and almost super-
human discovery, which first gave permanence to the
creation of thought, and sends forth the " winged words"
of genius to make the circuit of the globe, and charm
while it endures. He next adverted to ancient literature,
science, and the arts, and- their powerful effects in the
south of Europe. It was, however, in the north that the
chief triumphs of the alliance between commerce and
intellect are to be found. To one commercial city of Ger-
many we owe the art of printing—to another, the Refor-
mation. £lie first has ,rendered certain the diffusion of
knowledge, the last impossible the slavery of thought.
In Antwerp, the immortal genius of Vandyke and Rubens
brought painting to its highest perfection. Commerce in
Holland achieved a glorious victory alike over the storms
of nature and the oppressions of man. But why should
we travel to other times and distant lands for a confirma-

tion of the same eternal truth ? In this age, in this
country, in this city, its highest glories have been found.
Here it was, and here alone, that a successful stand was
at last made against the aggressions of revolutionary
France ; it was the discoveries of Watt, of Arkwright,
and of Crompton, which arrayed the forces which the
arms of Napoleon were unable to subdue. It was a com-
pany of British merchants which subjected the vast realms
of Hindostan to the sceptre of Queen Victoria, and exhi-
bited the prodigy of a single Delhi Gazette announcing in
one day the capture of Cabool, in the heart of Asia, and
the submission of the Celestial Empire under the walls of
Nankin. It is the energy of British commerce which has
peopled the western hemisphere with our descendants,
and is spreading through the eastern Archipelago the
wonders of European art, and the blessings of Christian
civilization. After a series of eloquent remarks on the
humanizing influence of education, and literary and scien-
tific pursuits, and the necessity of pursuing them, as well
as the study of languages, for the improvement of our-
selves and the world, he thus concluded :—" I see with
pleasure around me not merely an assembly of men, but
a large proportion of the other sex. To the latter 1 would
in an especial manner address myself, ere we part, and
that not in a spirit of chivalrous gallantry, but of serious
moral duty. I will do so in the words of a man second
to none that ever existed in intellectual power, and least
of all liable to be swayed in matters of thought by the
attractions of your society. "Itis my decided opinion,"
r said Napoleon, " that everything in the future man de-
pends upon his mother." If anything was requisite to
support so great an authority, I would add that as far as
my own observation has gone,(l have never either heard
or read of a remarkable man who had not a remarkable
mother. If, then, study is requisite for the men who are
to rule the world, what must it be for you, who are to
form the men ? whose blessed province it is to implant
those early lessons of virtue, and inculcate those early
feelings of religion and habits of perseverance, on which
the whole future fate of life depends, and which, by the
blessing of God, when once received, will never be forgot-
ten ? Thus it is that you will duly discharge your inesti-
mable mission ; thus it is that you will contribute your
part to the great work of human advancement ; and thus
it is that you will regain in home the lost Paradise of
Eden, and be enabled to say of it, in your last hours,
" This it is which has softened the trials of Time ; this
has, indeed, been the gate of heaven."
Mr. COBDEN was received with deafening applause.
He rejoiced to meet his fellow-citizens in the Athenaeum,
after an absence of twelve months. Though the institu-
tion suffered, in common with others, from the depres-
sion of the times, he feared not but it would, after the
storm had passed, continue to flourish in spite of all
adverse circumstances that might befall it. He then gave
an interesting account of its origin in 1835. The first
idea arose with the late Mr. Walker, surgeon, and one of
its earliest and best friends was the late Sir Thos. Potter,
who had himself given £5OO towards the building, and
had procured many other donations from liberal and ta-
lented men, merchants and manufacturers. In about
three weeks £lO,OOO was raised in Manchester. This
ought to operate as an encouragement and a stimulus.
The members had now a splendid building for their
meetings. The Athenaeum was intended not as a learned
society, but to furnish the opportunity for the men en-
gaged in active business in Manchester to follow, during
the intervals of hard labour, intellectual pursuits and
intellectual relaxations. They did profess to hold out the
opportunity and the means, for those who had a taste for
the severer studies, to cultivate that taste ; but they did
not disguise from themselves, that the great scope and
object of the Athenaeum must be to furnish agreeable
relaxation, and promote useful and amiable tastes among
the members. He then entered into a highly interesting
account of his recent travels on the Continent, especially
in France and Italy, and the pleasure he had enjoyed
amongst the literary men whom he had met with. Hi-
therto the select few only travelled on the Continent, but
he expected to see the time when the operatives from this
part of the world would go in their cheap trains to Paris.
Within twelve months from this time the railway com-
munication from Boulogne to Paris would be completed,
and they might then go regularly from the capital of
England to the capital of France in ten hours. He thus
concluded amidst much applause " I exhort you to
maintain this and kindred institutions in every garb, pub-
lic or private. I have had many changes, and have seen
many phases of society, probably as many as most. Ido
not speak egotistically, because I am now merely going
to elucidate an idea. But I have seen many phases of
society. I have had many exciting means of occupation,
and of gratification ; and I tell you, honestly and consci-
entiously, that if I want to look back to that which has
given me the purest satisfaction of mind, it is to those
pursuits which are accessible to every member of this
Athenaeum. I have not found the greatest enjoyment in
the exciting plaudits of public meetings ; I have not found
the greatest pleasure or interest in the intercourse some-
times with men of an elevated sphere abroad, while
others probably would feel it a privilege to meet such
men ; and I come back to you, conscientiously to declare,
that the greatest pleasures I have known are those acces-
sible to all of you, found in the calm intercourse with
-intelligent minds, and in communion with the departed,
in our books, by our own fire-sides."
Mr. R. W. EMERSON, of Massachusetts, spoke at con-
siderable length in favour of such institutions as the pre-
sent, in fostering amongst the great family of mankind a
taste for literature and art, and cultivating a brotherly and
kindly feeling. He then proceeded to predict more pros-
perous days for the commerce of this country. England
had seen many dark days before, but had got clear of
them. And when he saw that in her old age England was
not dispirited, but was still growing, still believing in her
powers of advance and expansion, then he said he hailed
the mother of nations, and the mother of heroes. If
hope and the elasticity of mankind existed not in this
country, they must be in the ranges of the Allihegany if
they existed any where. (Cheers.)
Dr. BOWRING, M.P., next addressed the meeting.
" Sir, (said he) the Athenaeum—what does it present ?
To my mind at least it presents one of the developments
of the great discovery of modern times—the power of in-
tellectual association. (Hear, hear.) It shows what man
can do when united with man ; the isolated man being as
but a shadow pursuing shades ; but, connected, associated,
co-operating with others, he stretches out his hand through
the present to the past and future, and creates the power
which, I believe, never will be disorganised hereafter.
(Hear.) Sir, it does also appear to me that one of the
greatest blessings we receive from the Creator is, that his
gifts are of common heritage—(hear, hear)—of the greatest
things that surround us, there can be no monopoly, and
every one of us is able to say—' Creation, air, the world
is mine !' (Loud cheers.) The heavens belong to us all.
The sea cannot be any inheritance of individuals. The
mountains are of universal possession. And so it is in
the possession of the mind. All that is great in the past
—all that is wise or aspiring in the present—all that is
hopeful in the future, belong now to the community at
large. Knowledge is universally accessible, and by its
universal accessibleness will, I doubt not, ere long become
universally expanded." He concluded by expressing 148
earnest desire that this great institution would accomplish
all the objects which its friends anticipated from its activity
and usefulness. (Cheers.)
Mr. GEORGE CRUICKSHANK was then introduced, and
was heartily welcomed. His address was pointed and
faretious throughout. He said, amongst other facetix,—
" This is not my first appearance in public in Manchester,
but it is my first appearance in this place. Before I came
to Manchester, I was given to understand that it was
always raining here, and that it was filled with most miser-
able-looking people, wretched, miserable folks. Well, I
thought it would be rather an unpleasant place to go to,
on account of tho distressed appearance of the people ; so
accordingly, I provided myself with an umbrella ; and, as
T don't wear spectacles, 1 came of course with hat and
gloves, to look for the pi-eturesque and horrible people.
But I have not been able to find them ; I have not seen
them. There are some stout, hale labourers in your
streets, but, as to the wretched ragged people, the vic-
tims of oppression in Manchester, luckily I have not been
so fortunate as to see them anywhere. And then, as to
the other classes of society, upon my word and honour I
don't know where, in the course of my travels,—certainly
they have not been so extensive as those of Mr. Cobden.
but I have travelled all over England, and I don't think I
could find a better sample, not only of ladies, but of gen-
tlemen, too—they are a very good-looking sample."
Mr. Alison having vacated the chair, which was taken
by the Mayor,
Mr. CROSSLEY next spoke with much eloquence, and
proposed, with a high encomium, a vote of thanks to the
president.
Lord Viscount BRACKLEY next addressed the meeting,
seconding the resolution.
The PRESIDENT ably and feelingly replied.
A splendid ball afterwards took place in the large ball,
and dancing continued with great spirit until three o'clock,
who the delighted party broke up.