The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-11-26 00:00:00

BRITISII AND FOREIGN INSTITUTE.

At a meeting of the Committee of the British and Fo-
reign Institute, held on Thursday, the 14th instant, Lord
Dudley Ccutts Stuart in the chair, it was resolved to give
publicity to such portions of the proceedings of its first
anniversary meeting as have hitherto been communicated
to the members only. The Right Hon. the Earl of Devon
took the chair at three o'clock precisely, and was sup-
ported by the Earl Grosvenor, Lord Claud Hamilton,
M.P., Sir George Staunton, Bart., M.P., E. W. Pen-
darves, M.P., NN illiam Evans, M.P., Lord William Len-
nox, Col. the Hon. Leicester Stanhope, Brigadier-Gen.
Sir Henry Pynn, and others of the vice-presidents and
committee, with a full attendetice of members.
In opening the proceedings, Lord Devon observei, that
according to the usual custom of societies of this nature,
they had met to hear a report of the progress and present
state of our affairs, on which—considering the very short
time that had elapsed since a few gentlemen had met to-
gether at his house to hear Mr. Buckingham's prospectus
of the institute, and to confer together on the best means
of assisting him to complete his original design—he
thought there would be found much reason for congratu-
lation.

A short preliminary conversation ensued, as to certain
abridgements made in the report, and the feeling of the
meeting being in favour of its being now read, in the
shortest form, this was accordingly done by the secretary,
and the balance sheet signed by the auditors was also read
and explained.
Mr. Baylis, who moved the first resolution, said that be
had heard so many unfavourable rumours of one kind or
another, that his mind had been strongly impressed with
apprehension for the result ; but after the satisfactory
statements of the report and balance sheet just read,
these impressions were entirely removed, and he had the
greatest pleasure in moving that the report be received,
adopted, and entered in the minutes of the society.
Mr. Tite said he felt very reluctant to incur any unne-
cessary expense, but he deemed it to be so important to
the interests of the institute that this report should be
widely circulated, that he begged to submit a motion fur
its being printed and distributed among the members, as
he was quite sure that wherever it was read it would re-
move many erroneous complaints, and be of the greatest
benefit to the society.
Mr. Simpson, in moving the third resolution, said that
he too, like others, had heard all manner of evil bodings.
But when on his first coming to town from Edinburgh he
came to see the institute for himself, and investigate the
mode and manner in which its affairs were conducted, he
could not but be filled with admiration at the beauty, ap-
propriateness, good taste, elegance, and comfort of the
one, and the ability and completeness of the other. It
seemed to him a matter of wonder, as well as gratification,
that so much should have been done, arid so well done
too, in so short a time, and therefore he had great pleasure
in submitting his motion of entire satisfaction with the
management.
Mr. Tite, in moving a vote of thanks to Lord Devon,
passed a high encomium on the noble president, for the
application of so much of his attention to the affairs of
the institute, considering the multiplicity and importance
of his engagements : and he felt sure that his lordship's
continued approbation and patronage of the society would
be regarded by the public as the best proof of its being
founded on sound principles, and conducted with honour
and integrity.
Dr. Camps drew the attention of the meeting to the
zeal, ability, and unremitting devotion of all his time and
talents, which Mr. Buckingham bestowed on the institute,
and regarded bis able management of its affairs as the
best guarantee for its continued success. Having wit-
nessed all this for himself, from the earliest beginning of
the undertaking, and seen no abatement of it to the pre-
sent time, he had great pleasure in moving a vote of
thanks to Mr. Buckingham and the committee, for their
these
se
ar
thatr i e
tdh e
whole
uy
id s .
The Earl of Devon, in returning thanks for the compli-
mentvaluable services and exertions during the past year. All
merit of the idea
and conception of the plan of the institute belonged to
Mr. Buckingham : and all that he (Lord Devon) had
done, was to co-operate, which he did most cordially with
others, to carry this plan out. He believed, from the
first, that the idea, though a new and a bold, was yet a
valuable one, and might be reduced to practice, though

Nov. 26, 1844.

many excellent friends of his thought otherwise. The
result, however, had shown that their apprehensions well
not well-founded. With Mr. Buckingham he had noW
maintained a pretty close and constant intercourse on the
subject for nearly a year and a half and he must say, 04t
he could not but acknowledge and admire the zeal, Per'
severance, and ability, with which he had achieved s,e,
much in so short a space of time. Indeed, the only fael
he had to 'find with him was that he was ton zealous :
the most frequent duty which he (Lord Devon) had ;7
perform, was to exercise the office of " ardour-checker,
and prevent Mr. Buckingham from doing too much. 138 t
for this zeal, however,
J 5
the end could not have been 8c:,
complished : and he was glad to find that it was felt anl
acknowledged in all quarters : and that the friends ,u
supporters of the institute were daily on the increase;
while its evening parties were more and more brilliant and
satisfactory. He had himself attended several of these'
and was much pleased at the evident gratification thel
afforded to all : while he understood that the last, wbie
occurred on the preceding evening, and which he was pre-
vented from attending by an engagement elsewhere, was
one of the fullest and most attractive of the season. In
all that was stated in the report on this subject, and lea-
deed in every other part of it, he entirely concurred—an f
he had no doubt that as the advantages and pleasures e,;
the institute became more known they would be more an
more sought after and appreciated.
Mr. Jessel begged to ask Lord Devon, whether solve
plan might not be devised, by which Mr. Buckingham'
the value of whose labours was admitted by all, could,
secured a mere competent remuneration than that whie
the present mode of payment afforded him : as he 199',
sure the members generally would support the committee,
in awarding him a fixed salary, of a much larger amon,r*,
than the small surplus now left for all his exertions, vi
which the institute has been brought to its present state
of efficiency.
Lord Devon said he agreed with the honourable gentled'
man as to the desirability of securing an adequate 80
certain compensation to Mr. Buckingham for his labours;
but the difficulty lay in this : that as the members were
exempt from all legal liabilities beyond their respective
subscriptions, the question would be, in the event of the
income being insufficient to allow of such compensation,
who was to make it up to him—the committee, or the
members, or both ?—The most certain method of securing
a proper return to Mr. Buckingham would be to increase
the general income of the institute, by an addition to the
number of its members, as in that case all would be bens'
fitted, and there would be an ample surplus for remueeen-
tion, without the necessity of calling upon any parties to
make up a deficiency. It should be remembered,
institute was yet in its infancy, and there was every reason
to hope that it would go on improving in its resources 89
well as its attract that the