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protected and prolonged by the exercise of the powers which ought to have promoted their advancement in knowledge. Thus the English Barous petitioned Richard the Second, that no villager (as the labourer was then denominated) should be permitted to send his son to school; and in Peru we learn, from the statement of Garcilasso Della Vega, that unlawful for one, not noble, to study. In the reign of Henry the Eighth, also, a Bill was tendered by both Houses of Parliament, to the King, to prevent most of the laity from reading the Scriptures. Among the Turks, a circumstance which cannot create any surprise, the art of printing, we are told by Ricaut, is absolutely prohibited, because it may give a beginning to that subtlety of learning which is dangerous to their government," And in other countries governed in a similar manner, especially where gross superstition has likewise prevailed, impediments of a similar nature have been discovered, But in all these occurrences there is nothing to excite our surprise comparable with the sentiments of the late Mr. Col quhoun, once the chief magistrate of the most important commercial city of Scotland, of which he was a native, and aware, it night, therefore be supposed, of the peculiar excellences of his countrymen, which, with scarcely a dissentient voice, baye been ascribed to the extensive diffusion of education. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Mr. Colquhoun, (probably best remembered as the author of a treatise on the Police of the Metropolis), whilst occupying a seat amongst the magistrates of this great and flourishing city, in a tract on Indigence, has uttered these words: "It is the interest of every nation, that the people should be virtuous and welldisposed bur science and learning, if universally diffused, would speedily over turn the best constituted government on earth. And to show that it is not to the more refined descriptions of knowledge merely that his objections apply, an assertion advanced in another pamphlet, on the subject of education, may be quoted Utopian schemes for an extensive diffusion of knowledge (he says), without specifying any portion of it, would be injurious or absurd." To enter into a formal refutation of an opinion which has experienced an almost total exclusion from the minds of this enlightened period, would be to contend against the shadow of a shade. I cannot avoid remarking, however, in regard to Mr. Colquhoun's opinion of the texture and stability of the best government on earth, that I believe it to be decidedly false; and that it contains a libel more gross than, in the same number of words, or in any number of words, however large, the greatest libeller of good go

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vernments, whether punished or unpunished, has ever yet contrived to utter

:

(Loud cheers).-From this picture we now turn to look upon that which the wise and noble spirit of these latter times enables me to delineate. His late Majesty, whose long, eventful reign has now become the subject of the historian, will, in the most distant ages, I hesitate not to predict, be gratefully remembered for the liberal feelings with which he patronized and actively promoted the extension of education and his wish, "that every child in his dominions should be able to read the Bible," will remain an imperishable record of the soundness of his understanding and the excellence of his heart-(Cheers).-The Monarch now seated on the throne of this great empire, I feel, as one of his subjects, peculiar gratification and pride in declaring, has manifested the same exalted liberality. By the honours which he has already bestowed upon some of the most successful cultivators of science, of literature, and of the arts,-upon a Scott, a Lawrence, and a Davy,—he has conferred a signal lustre upon himself and upon the nation, as well as upon them. His regal bouuty, also, which has otten flowed in a more substantial, and, for many purposes, in a more effectual form, las displayed, by its extent, no contou interest in the advancement of the great cause of universal education (Cheers). But of the instances of princely regard, which the friends of our country and of education have, with exultation, to record, the most distinguished has been afforded by the illus trious individual who honours us with his presence upon this occasion-(Loud and continued cheers), I will not permit myself to speak of him in those terms avhich general opinion would authorise me to employ; because I should become liable to the charge of presumption, and I might als encounter a suspicion which I am at all times most desirous to avoid. I may, however, be allowed to acknowledge the gratification we have received from the kind and warm interest which his Royal Highness has taken in our proceedings, from the first moment that they were made known to him, and for the condescending manner in which he has repeatedly expressed his anxious desire personally to witness those proceedings--(Loud cheers). This, indeed, might have been confidently anticipated; for very few of the numerous great attempts, which have been made within the first quarter of the nineteenth century, to diminish the wants and alleviate the sufferings of man, or to increase his store of knowledge, have been unaided by the steady, zealous, and eloquent support of the Duke of Sussex. Entering, with unshrinking sympathy, into the wants and

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misfortunes of his fellow-creatures, he has seldom failed to be at haud, (loud cheers),

"Wherever man and misery are found."

Of a similar admirable spirit prevailing amongst the Nobles of the land, we have recently had many proofs. The distinguished House of Bedford, through several of its branches, has been a powerful auxiliary to this dignified cause; and the Marquis of Lansdown, the honour of whose presence we have now to acknowledge (Cheers)-one of whose ancestors powerfully urged the necessity for adopting a more general system of education, as President of the Infant School Society, and as Patron of a District Institution similar to our own, as well as by many other means, has greatly contributed to the attainment of this important purpose. Amongst the Spiritual Lords, it is impossible to overlook the venerable Bishop of Norwich, who thus concludes a letter in which he apologises, on the score of age, for his absence from a recent interesting Public Meeting: Every man who has at heart either private happiness or public prosperity, must be a friend to the cause of universal education."-There are several Senators, likewise, to whom the cause of education in general, as well as our particular cause, stands deeply indebted, whom, if time permitted, I should with pleasure enumerate. To Sir Francis Burdett, the great philanthropist, and the consistent advocate of hunian freedom, we owe many, very many, acknowledgments, for the highly favourable opinion which he has expressed of our un dertaking, and for the munificence with which he has confirmed that opinion-(Loud cheers).To my learned and distinguished friend, Mr. Brougham, for the early, incessant, and irresistible energy with which he has, in every direction, advocated and extended the measures for accomplishing the scientific education of the artisan, we, along with the whole nation, have incurred a large debt of gratitude-(Loud cheers).-Before the demonstrative power of his gigantic mind, opposition has crumbled into dust, and his valuable " Practical Observations" have so effectually confirmed the wavering, and instructed the ignorant, and animated the lukewarm, that Institutions similar to our own have rapidly sprung up, in numbers far exceeding all calculation, and in places where their existence could least have been anticipated. In the formation of schools for imparting the simplest rudiments of knowledge to the infant, as well as in the establishments which give information to youth and manhood, his capacious mind is unremittingly occupied; and although the Bar and the Senate number him amongst the most ac

tive, laborious, and enlightened of their members, yet they who mark his efforts, on behalf of education alone, would couclude, that Infant Schools, Lancasterian Schools, Mechanics' Institutions, and a London University, must possess his undivided time and attention (Loud applause).Nothing is too minute, nothing too vast or too distant, to be compre hended within his wondrous orbit. And contemplating, as I often do, with silent admiration, the intellectual magnitude by which he is rendered conspicuous among mankind-and the occasional clouds raised by envy and malignity in their unavailing attempts to obscure lis brightness-and the splendid halo which, "in records writ by fame," must encir cle his memory, I am strongly reminded of a sublime simile, recently and most appropriately applied by him to another subject:

"As some tall cliff, which lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;

2

Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread,

Eternal sunshine settles on its head,”, pet With all this array of rank, of talent, and of power, in the cause of education, its benefits, in the way of practical improvement must be conferred (such, at least, is the inference from the past) somewhat slowly and successively. Even in the great dispensations of Heaven, so essential to the direction and government of mankind, the same rule has been apparent; they have not been communicated at once, and even the most important have been for many ages delayed or withheld. In the same seattered manner, and at distant intervals, have discovery and invention always proceeded. Instead of so occurring, as at once, in the highest degree, to bless mankind, the mariner's compass, gunpowder-a negative blessing, like its counterpart the steam-gun-the art of printing, the steam-engine, the safetylamp, and the like, were made known in succession. In the same manner, the greatest benefactors of their species were created in times remote from each other, according to those exigencies manifested to the inscrutable mind of Omniscience, in pursuing the wise and benevolent purposes of his government. This procedure has been so beautifully delineated by Dr. Southwood Smith, in his ** Illastrations of the Divine Government," that I shall take the liberty of quoting the passage with but little abridgment. "Suppose it is the will of God to lead men to the discovery of the most interesting truths respecting the phenomena of nature, and the laws by which the universe is governed; he endows an individual with a clear and capacions mind; he leads him to observe, to re

flect, to investigate; he forms him to those habits of patient and profound inquiry which are necessary to elicit the truth to be disclosed, and sufficient to secure him from every temptation to carelessness and dissipation; he arises up a Newton Suppose that at length he determines to lead back the minds of men to purer sentiments respecting his own character, government, and worship, and to overthrow those corrupt systems of religion which have prevailed for ages, he raises up an individual, whose mind he enlightens, whose soul he fills with an ardent zeal for the simplicity of its rites; who, though cities and empires arm against him, and one general cry of execration and menace follows him from land to land, goes on with undaunted courage to expose abuses, and to call, in a louder and louder voice, for reformation-it is the voice of Luther, which makes corruption rage, and superstition tremble. Suppose it is his will to save a people in love with liberty, and worthy, because capable of enjoying it, from oppression, and to exhibit to the world an example of what the weak, who are virtuous and united, may effect against the strong, who are corrupt and tyrannical in every season when he is needed, he forms, and in every station where his presence is necessary, he places,, a Washingtou. And suppose it is his will to pour the balm of consola tion into the wounded heart, to visit the captive with solace, to extend mercy to the poor prisoner, to admit into his noisome cell the cheering beams of his sun and his refreshing breezes, he breathes the spirit of philanthropy into some chosen bosom; he superadds an energy which neither the frown of power, nor the guace of interest, nor the scorn of indifference, can abate, which exhibits so strongly to the view of men the horrors of a dungeon, as to force them to suspend for a while their business and their pleasures, to feel for the sufferings of others, and to learn the great lessons that the guilty were still their brethren, and that it is better to reclaim than to destroy he gives to a suffering world the angel spirit of a Howard. Thus, whilst we dare not venture, instructed by the past, to flatter you with the hope, that the system of scientific education to be here pursued, and the systematic application of science to the arts, which will be here unceasingly displayed, will suddenly introduce numerous momentous improvements, we cannot, of consequence, venture to promise that wealth and happiness, in such abundance as may satisfy the ardent desire of man for both, will rapidly result from this important project. We wish only to be understood to maintain the position so admirably expressed by our excellent-friend and auditor, Mr. John

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Smith, "that in proportion as men are rendered intelligent, they will become prosperous, virtuous, and happy" (Applause).-The large sudden acquisitions of wealth, which have sometimes occurred, I need scarcely remind you, have seldom been observed to bless, seldom even to benefit, their possessors. Fortunate, as the world is accustomed unthinkingly to term them, they are, in reality, like Sinbad in the Valley of Diamonds, walking amidst wealth, but not at all comfortable (Laughter).-Nor do we profess to banish poverty from those communities with which our projects may be mingled. Improvidence, and the unavoidable casualties attaching to our earthly allotment, will long, if not for ever, maintain great inequalities of condition, and place one portion of the species in painful dependence upon another. We have been sufficiently apprised, that the destiny.assigned by the God of Nature, even to the land of promise, is one which expressly includes the certainty of indigence. "In vain," says an eloquent Divine, in reference to this subject, "do all the powers of human sagacity conspire with the energies of pious benevolence to banish this spectre from the world. Expelled from one quarter, it instantly rises in another. It scowls, in mockery, upon all the labours of legislation-it haunts all the dreams of philanthropy it saddens even the meditations of piety. While we are framing projects for the improvement and comfort of the human race, it stands by with a sepulchral pall, and threatens to spread over our designs the plague of confusion-to clothe our heavens with darkness, and to make sackcloth our covering." To the preservation of health, unquestionably one of the essential in gredients in the cup of Lappiness, we shall, I trust, by this expedient, some what largely contribute. Indirectly, by the substitution of improved habits, and directly, by protecting the operative che mist, mechanic, and labourer, against the pernicious influence of various noxious agents, and against the destructive exertions which mechanical processes, com paratively easy, may supersede already something has been achieved within these walls for the safety of the chemical artificer; since in the space which you now occupy, effectual, because conclusive, experiments were conducted with the apparatus of Roberts, the ingenious miner-(Applause).— Upon the evidence of these experiments, the So citey of Arts granted their liberal reward; and on presenting this reward, our Il lustrious Visitor, who so ably presides over that Society, emphatically declared, "that it was calculated to save thousands of lives and millions of property" (Loud cheers); thus most impressively and extensively promulgating its excel

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tioned in the same day that person is one of whom our learned President could not himself speak, but I am sure he need but be mentioned to obtain respect and gratitude at the hands of all present for all present cannot fail of recollecting the many debts that are due to him on that score for the consciousness of his past exertions, and for the happy knowledge that he is now present, renewing those efforts (Applause).Of Dr. Birk beck it is only necessary to say, and of the gratitude that we all owe him, and of the never-to-be-forgotten obligations under which he assembled here as his laid, not only ourselves, who a friends and fellow-labourers, in a manner, but the whole country likewise, through which he is striving to spread the utility of his labours of Dr. Birkbeck it is only necessary to say what was said of another great man in a former century mean Sir Christopher Wren

If you seek for his monument, look here around you, and you will find it"(Loud cheers).Our gratitude is due to our President first, because he is the author of Mechanics' Institutions, of General Schools of Art, or by whatever name they may be designated; and next, because he has founded, and carried into effect, this great plau in London, with the assistance and co-operatiofi of those persons is who, taking the hint from what he already done in Scotland, had united for the purpose of circulating and adopting' the same system in England, among whom I may more especially notice the authors of the Mechanics' Magazine;

was founded.astly, because, when it

not finding it succeed with those honours that it deserved, he became impatient of the slow and tedious progress of general subscriptions, aud himself laid down the necessary funds out of which this convenient and beautiful theatre has been raised-(Loud cheers). -To-day, however, he enjoys the rich reward of the great and enlightened zeal with which he has acted, and which has produced so striking a movement throughout the Empire. He has lived to a moment when he may see the system spreading not only generally throughout this island, with hopes of its continuance through every portion of the world, but also taking root in every great place, in every middle-sized place, nay, I may add, in small and obscure villages, in many of which Apprentice Libraries and Mechanics Libraries are forming, and where even Institutions for study and for lectures have been planted and are flourish

back, to circulate, as widely as possible, a tract containing these results-(Great applause), made up in a cheap and intelligent form, many thousands of which have been sent not only into large cities, but also into villages; as an instance of which I may mention one small place on the borders of Scotland, where from two to three hundred copies have been circulated among a population which, perhaps, scarcely exceeds five or six hundred, men, women, and children. This, I think, is a sufficient proof how great the prevailing anxiety is for the reception of our principles, and for the adop tion of our system. But I have a still better proof (Cheers); scarcely three days ever clapse without my receiving a communication of the establishment of some new Mechanics' Institution. At the beginning of May last I made a calculation, that, since the preceding July, had received accounts of no less than thirty-three being established."

The learned gentleman then adverted Birmingham, Bath, Leeds, and Manparticularly to the cases of Liverpool, chester, and thus proceeded:

let

"Some will tell us that it is dangerous to teach too much to the working classes, for, say they, it will enable them to tread ou the heels of their superiors-(Cheers). -Now this is just the sort of treading on the heel that I long to see-(Laughter)-It sometimes happens, I believe, that the heels of these self-nominated superiors are armed with spurs, of no great use, to be sure-(A laugh) the toe of the mechanic be also armed with a spur, and I think it will provena stimulus to the heel of the other++(Much laughter).It is this that I ventured to predict some months ago in the tract to which I have already alluded, and if those who choose to call themselves our supe riors, wish really to have a claim to that title, in order to obtain it I would recommend their more frequent appearance at our parties-(Cheers)-But, that they may have no just cause of complaint, it has been proposed to found an Univer sity in this city, which, to its disgrace, has for so many years existed without one the only one in the whole world that can be so stigmatized, except, indeed, as Mr. Campbell observed on a late occasion, those three seats of depravity, Constantinople, St. Petersburgh, and Madrid, where I cannot say that I have much objection, for their enlight ened inhabitants to poise their immortal weight against a coal-basket—(Laughter