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SIR BENJAMIN HEYWOOD'S ADDRESSES.*

PROSPECTS OF MECHANICS' INSTITUTIONS.

We are glad to see these excellent addresses reprinted in a neat and accessible form. As a tribute of respect to the distinguished individual to whose guidance and support the institution owes so much, their republication is creditable to its Directors; whilst their intrinsic value will recommend them strongly to all who are interested in the management of Mechanics' Institutions. Besides many useful practical hints, the views which are throughout enforced of the proper scope and objects of such institutions, are more than usually liberal and comprehensive.

The Manchester Mechanics' Institution "was the first erected in this county to include accommodation for all the objects in view." For many years it existed without a rival. Soon after its establishment in 1825, eight gentlemen connected with the trade and manufactures of the town, liberally advanced sums of £500 each (together £4000) for the purchase of land and the erection of a suitable building. The debt thus incurred has since been materially reduced, partly by the uniform good management and economy of its directors (who are chosen entirely of the members themselves) and partly of the aid of those periodical "Exhibitions" within its walls, which have afforded so much instruction and delight to the working classes, in Manchester and other towns. The first idea of these exhibitions originated, we believe, with the Manchester Institution, in a suggestion thrown out in one of the addresses before us. The following passage exemplifies both their admirable results and the true spirit of philanthropy which should actuate the promoters of such societies.

One of the great attractions of the Institution, the results of which the Report records, has been the exhibition which has lately closed. For my ovn part, I am free to confess, I had no anticipation of the degree of the success which has attended it; and I believe I am not very far wrong when I say that its results have not a little surprised any excellent friends near me, who worked so zealously in its preparation. How delightful is the contemplation of every thing connected with it. Where shall I begin in the enumeration of its happy influences? Shall I speak of the spirit which animated those who undertook its preparation and arrangement; of the days and nights of labour they devoted to it; of the readiness and kindness with which contri butions of all kinds were offered? Shall I speak of the gratification afforded by it to thousands, and tens of thousands who had never seen any thing of the kind before; of the new and nobler taste which it has awakened in the minds of many of them: or shall I speak of its value as an example to other Institutions, possessing rich and beautiful collections, from which the public have been hitherto excluded? It was delightful to see the countenances, beaming with pleasure, of the working men, their wives and their children, as they thronged through the rooms, and gazed upon the different objects; and I

* Addresses delivered at the Manchester Mechanics' Institution. By Sir Benjamin Heywood, Bart. F.R.S., the late President. Collected and published by the Directors. London: Charles Knight and Co.; John Harrison, Market-street, Manchester.

could not help feeling in how many of their breasts a chord must have been touched, the vibration of which will have given life and permanence to new and happier feelings within them. I could not help feeling also, when I saw every article of the exhibition exposed before them, and immediately within their reach, and learned that the exhibition closed without injury to a single specimen, how false an estimate those have formed who dare not trust their collections to public inspection. Surely the example will not be lost. Oh let it be known throughout the country!-let it open doors that have hitherto been closed; let our town be the first to profit by the example, and let us see our Natural History Society, our Royal Institution, our Botanic Garden, our Zoological Garden, thronged, as your exhibition has been, with working men and their families. Treat the working man with generosity and confidence, and he will repay you with honesty and gratitude; treat him with suspicion and distrust, and what right have you to expect a different return?

The advantages afforded to the members are thus enumerated—"You have a library of several thousand volumes of useful and entertaining knowledge, any of which you may take home with you or consult here. You have a reading room, on the table of which are the most useful and attractive periodical publications; you have, during a large portion of the year, weekly lectures on subjects of great importance and interest to you; you have schools for writing, grammar, and composition, arithmetic and algebra; geometry and the higher branches of mathematics; mechanical, architectural, figure, landscape and flower drawing; and last, though, in my mind as you know not least in importance, for gymnastic exercises. All these advantages are at your command, on payment of five shillings a quarter or little more than fourpence halfpenny a week!"

We are glad to hear that the important adjunct of a news-room has recently been established; one other, (in our opinion) indispensable branch of such an institution we hope to see before long introduced there and elsewhere, viz.:-female classes for instruction in those branches of knowledge necessary to the consistent discharge of female duty.

The original design of Mechanics' Institutions, the instruction of artizans in the principles of their various trades, appears too limited to be generally beneficial.

I much wish (says Sir B. Heywood) that we could accomplish a more direct communication of moral instruction. I am aware of the difficulties upon this point, and of the restrictions under which we necessarily labour; but I can see no reason, for instance, why our lectures on the various branches of natural science should not be accompanied by a judicious reference of the phenomena therein explained, to a superintending and beneficent Providence, and the practical inferences dwelt upon. I can see no reason why we should not have direct lectures on the evidence afforded by the works of nature, of the being and attributes of the Almighty, and, upon the plan of Paley's Natural Theology, they would be of the greatest interest. This is a point on which I feel strongly. It has been well observed, that "the communication of moral instruction (and the word moral is taken in its widest sense, as including every subject immediately connected with human action and happiness,) to those great masses of men, who are now beginning to think and act for themselves, and whose influence on the general condition of society is every year becoming more important, is not only an act of justice, but a measure of safety." From the variety of religious opinions which prevail aniongst our members, we are prevented from grounding our practical

morality on the assumption of any particular doctrines of religion, exclusive of course of those first principles of belief in a Providence and a state of retribution, which are common to all of us: but even thus restricted, we have surely a large groundwork, on which the mind may be stirred to habits of purity and honour, and self-control, and its attention deeply fixed on the great and immutable distinctions of moral good and evil.

"I have spoken of the moral influence of the Institution, and my great desire that this should be extended; I have always felt that more might be done in the way of direct moral instruction, in connexion with our lectures on natural science. I would again urge it. You know how highly I estimate the moral influence of rational amusement on the mind of the working man; and, though the doctrine may not be very palatable in certain quarters, I hold that the ministers of religion have no more valuable coadjutors than those who seek, by innocent and tempting recreation, to draw the working man, at the close of his day's work, from haunts of sensuality and vice. The point in my mind, however, at this moment is, the practical evidence afforded by the Institution of its moral influence. It is to be found in the character of those who have availed themselves of its advantages, Look at your Board of Directors-you select them from your own body, and none are eligible until they have been two years members of the Institution; look at their disinterested and zealous services in your behalf, and surely nothing can be more praiseworthy, or more pleasing as a result of their connexion with the Institution.

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Party politics and religious controversy are, by our wise regulations, excluded, and our harmony has, in consequence, been hitherto uninterrupted; but do not let it thence be concluded, that religion has no place here. We hold that education to be worse than useless, which is not based on religion; but we think of religion as that sense of God on the soul," that vital principle, which purifies and exalts our nature--which should be the prime mover of all our actions, and have possession of the innermost strongholds of the heart and we think, that its foundation should be laid, not in the inculcation of particular dogmas and creeds, but of those great and general truths which are common to all creeds. For my own part, I cannot help thinking, that in nothing is ignorance of human nature more shown, or the dictates of common sense more disregarded, than in the modes by which it is commonly sought to implant religion in the mind."

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To those who have laboured long in promoting Mechanics' Institutions, nothing can be so thoroughly disheartening as the apparent indifference of the people to the means provided for their improvement. Reports of institutions in almost every part of England, re-echo the one complaint of poverty and want of support. Neither time nor perseverance seems to open a better prospect for the future. Formerly, it may have been a question how far these means were adapted to the end. But all possible expedients for attracting support seem to have been tried— lectures, tea-parties, stimulants of one sort or other, have in their turns produced a temporary elevation, only to be succeeded by still deeper depression. "How is it that an institution fulfilling so many of its purposes, dispensing to its members, at so cheap a rate, useful instruction, and substantial enjoyment, fitting them for and often helping them to situations of trust and emolument for which they would not otherwise have been qualified,-how is it, I say, that from the immense population which surrounds us we have only about six hundred subscribers?"

To this question the following passage from Sir. B. Heywood's address on the 19th Novr. 1832, (to the shame of our rulers, after a lapse of eleven years-equally applicable now) affords the only satisfactory answer.

"We must look to other causes than to defects in our management, for the disappointment to which I have alluded, and I fear we shall find that the physical and moral condition of the great mass of the working classes, will better account for the small proportion of them who partake of the advantages which the Institution offers.

"In one large portion of our population the long hours of labour present a serious obstacle to intellectual improvement. After twelve hours of labour, the working man at the close of the day needs relaxation and rest, and is in no mood for our lectures or classes. To another portion of our population, leisure indeed may not be wanting, for they are often days and even weeks without work; but they are at those times in a state of destitution and misery, which it is most distressing to contemplate. Let any one look at the details of the actual condition of a large portion of the working classes in this town, which a recent investigation, in anticipation of the fearful malady which has since visited us, brought to light; we are greatly indebted to our talented and excellent townsman, Dr. Kay, for bringing them fully before us in a pamphlet of deep interest and value. Is it possible, that any one, who is himself in circumstances of ease and comfort, can read those details without an inward stirring to exertion in behalf of his suffering neighbours? But what are we to do, we ask ourselves? How are we to mitigate an evil of such magnitude? Surely, we may say, the Legislature alone can attempt it. True it is, that upon just and wise legislation our chief dependance is placed; that to this we look for the lightning of those burdens which press upon the people; that a liberal commercial policy, and the termination of commercial monopolies, will bring with them a greater demand for labour, and a better remuneration for it; and will be the only effectual means of shortening the hours of labour. No less true is it, that without the aid of legislative enactment, there can be no efficient system for the education of the people."

Deeply do we regret that these enlightened views have made so little way against the prevailing sectarianism of the times amongst the professed advocates of education and popular rights."

THE HAUNTED BED.

"Pray you avoid it."-HAMLET.

The wind blew high thro' the murky sky,
The rain pell mell came down,
As the blind and lame old horses came
To the inn of a country town.

"Can I sleep here to night, my lady bright?"

Said I to the bar-maid fair;

"Call the waiter bold!" and the waiter told
There was no use waiting there.

"But a bed, a bed," in haste I said, "I must have in spite of fate,

"My weary eyes wink, my weak joints sink "With sitting up so late."

The waiter said that there was a bed,

But yet no place of rest,

In a very old house, where no rook of nous
Would venture to build a nest.

For 'twas haunted nightly by a ghost unsightly,
No priestly craft could lay,

For that ever sprightly, it rose all tightly
When his Reverence went away.

"Tut! hang the sprite, I hold it light, "And its power do defy!

"Give me a dram, then not a damn "For spirits more care I!"

So across the street with squashing feet
We hied to the haunted bed,

And with many a bang the old door rang,
Enough to wake the dead.

The host he came, behind him his dame,

And each in a terrible fright,

For we heard through a chink, that they seemed to think 'Twas the ghost, shut out for the night.

But the waiter swore he would break the door

If they did not let us in,

That we were not ghosts, nor sticks, nor posts,
But men wet to the skin.

They were much amazed, and thought me crazed,
Or at least somewhat light of head,

When I told them both, that however loath,
I must sleep in their haunted bed.

With exceeding care and many a stare,
And start, and quick retreat,

They led to the room-perchance the tomb!
Of him with the noiseless feet!

An air of gloom, and a rank perfume
Of charnel-like mildew, spread

From ceiling to floor, from window to door,
From closet unto bed.