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AN ESSAY ON THE HISTORY AND MANAGEMENT or LITERARY, SCIENTIFIC, & MECHANICS’ INSTITUTIONS ; AND ESPECIALLY HOW EAR THEY MAY BE DEVELOPED AND COMBINED, SO AS TO PROMOTE THE MORAL WELL-BEING AND INDUSTRY OF THE COUNTRY. BY JAMES HOLE, ESQ., HONORARY SECRETARY OF THE YORKSHIRE UNION OF MECHANICS* INSTITUTIONS. “ Nemo Labori Musas vetet.” PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS. LONDON: LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS. 1853. 37 1 . 34 mechanics’ institutes. which the noble-minded Sir Benjamin Hey wood infused into them, they infused into their pupils, who in turn frequently became valuable helps to the Institution. In one of his annual addresses to the members 17 , after citing instances of young men who by means of the Institution had raised themselves in the world, he adds, that “they became active instruments of extending to others the advantages of which they have themselves felt the value. They had many instances within their own knowledge. How many members of that Institution were there active and zealous teachers in various Sunday schools in the town? Who were they who, without any emolu- ment, had for four years taken the entire charge of the writing class? Who were they who, in several of the classes, gave their gratuitous assistance to the teachers? Who were they, in the Board of Directors, who devoted their time and their labour to their service? They were men trained up in the Institution.” The youths whose days were spent in the counting- house, the workshops, and the factory, and whose nights were thus devoted to mental culture, have become men, fathers of families, and in some instances employers of labour, scores of whom may thank the instruction they received in the Mechanics’ classes for the larger part of the blessings they have enjoyed. The Hudders- field Mechanics’ Institute contains about 800 pupils, most of whom are receiving class instruction, much of it elementary, but much also well worthy of a Peoples’ College. We know of scarcely another Institute that can compare with it. It reaches the working man and it teaches him. Why? What is the secret? Efficiency, It has the advantage of the gratuitous services of the Masters of the Huddersfield College it has a good statf of paid and unpaid teachers, and pretty liberal con- tributions from the traders and manufacturers of the town. From a comparison of a large number of Institutes it 17 February 26*. 1835. J CLASSES. 35 appears that the attendance at evening classes comprises less than a sixth of the whole number of members. 17a The classes even for elementary instruction have not increased in proportion to the number of members, and those for more advanced studies still less so. The progress that has been made in this department in the largest Institute in the Kingdom — that of Leeds — is an epitome of the Institutes everywhere. Actual Average Attendance. Year. Total Members. Total. Drawing Class. Mathematic Class. Chemical Class. 1839 332 84 36 19 89 1853 2,166 35 24 13 72 The proportion for these three most important classes being 17 less than it was thirteen years ago, while the number of subscribers has increased nearly seven fold. In the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute the number of pupils in the classes in 1836 was 787, and thirteen years later 706. The instruction of females was probably not contem- plated by the earlier founders of Mechanics’ Institutes, and the omission has certainly not been since greatly remedied. Out of 86 Institutes 18 , containing 14,962 members, only 1,520, or one-tenth of the whole, were females. This great disparity may in part be attributable to the erroneous notions prevailing on the subject of the true position of Woman, and especially amongst the labouring classes. If in superior stations Woman is too often considered as an elegant toy, in the lower ranks she is too frequently treated merely as a domestic slave. In the first she must learn the lighter accomplishments, l7a The actual attendance at 59 attending evening classes, 4-5 ths are institutes giving class instruction, in the elementary classes, as reading, and containing 11,813 members, is writing, and arithmetic. — Yorkshire 2,810. It appears from the return Union Report, 1853. that even of the small proportion of 18 Feport of the Yorkshire Union members (under l-4th of the whole) of Mechanics’ Institutes for 1852. 36 mechanics’ institutes. whatever else she may acquire ; in the lower her edcua- tion, still more emphatically than that of the stronger sex, is left to take care of itself. “ Man, oft to Man unjust. Is always so to Woman.” The elevation of Woman is too large a subject to enter upon here ; but it is obvious that many of the arguments which apply to the education of the male sex, apply with equal force to the female, while there are some reasons which give the latter even a more imperative claim. If a woman is not cultivated so as to be a com- panion for her husband, she is but his drudge. True it is, that economy, order, cleanliness, and other household virtues, are possible without the possession of much book learning ; but there are other qualities not less essential to domestic happiness than these. Good temper, and at least moderate intelligence, are equally requisite. We know instances, and they are not uncommon, when from want of knowing how to improve a leisure hour, women of the labouring class become disagreeably clean : cooking, washing, scrubbing, and rubbing, from Monday morning till Saturday night, their whole time is devoted to the worship (on their knees) of their household gods the furniture and fire-irons. Although this is a less evil than a literary slattern, yet for a human being gifted with faculties for far higher purposes, this is surely a melancholy perversion. Or sometimes want of better knowledge causes a large portion of time to be wasted in stupid gossip, at others it exhibits itself in an undue and disproportionate love of dress and finery. Persons who have visited manufacturing towns must have often been struck with the incongruity between the elegantly dressed females and their coarse tone, language, and manners. Nothing manifests so strikingly the direction which our progress has taken this last few years. One is almost tempted to parody Hood’s lines and say, — Alas ! that dress should be so cheap, And common sense so dear. NEGLECT OF FEMALE EDUCATION. 37 The coarseness which the conditions of their birth and training, uncounteracted by any superior influence, too often induce, acts even more disastrously upon the character of their children than upon the happiness of the husband. The greatest educators have confessed, that all they could do was nothing compared with the influence of the mother upon the child. The greatest men the world has yet produced, have (with singular unanimity) traced the germs of their greatness to maternal influence. Pondering this truth, so notorious as to be commonplace, let any one visit the cottages and the small streets of our large towns ; let him see the filth and squalor in which the children are revelling, with the fortunate unconsciousness of childhood ; let him listen to the frequent language of passion, and witness, as he often may, the brutal violence of personal chastise- ment towards these, the men and women of the next generation, — he will not wonder that with such a pre- paration at home, backed by the penny theatre and the casino abroad, the boy or girl leaves the parental roof as soon as they earn a few shillings a week, and set up as precocious men and women, even before childhood is well completed. It may be objected that as the occu- pations pursued by men are so much more varied than those pursued by women, the latter could derive no ad- vantage from many of those studies which are essential to the success of the former. We reply that there is a distinction between that general culture which all ought to have, and the special cultivation suited to particular pursuits. To the former there is surely no reason why women should not lay claim equally with men. And as to the latter, we think that for. many departments of industry and commerce, women are as well adapted as men, but from which they are cruelly and unjustly ex- cluded. In France there are various employments much more open to women than they are with us. Speaking on this subject, John Stuart Mill justly remarks, “ A 38 mechanics’ institutes. change which lies in the direct line of the best tenden- cies of the time is the opening of industrial occupations freely to both sexes. The same reasons which make it no longer necessary that the poor should depend on the rich, make it equally unnecessary that women should depend on men, and the best which justice requires is, that law and custom should not enforce dependence, (when the co-relative protection has become super- fluous) by ordaining that a woman who does not happen to have a provision by inheritance, shall have scarcely any means open to her of gaining a livelihood, except as a wife and mother. Let women who prefer that oc- cupation, adopt it ; but that there should be no option, no other carrier e possible, for the great majority of women, except in the humble departments of life, is one of those social injustices which call loudest for remedy .” 19 It is gratifying to observe that in the new schools of practical art, we are beginning to repair our injustice. Of the five special classes established in Marlborough House for the purpose of applying the new system of drawing to the practical purposes of production, there are in operation female classes for Wood Engraving and Chromo-Lithography. The class for Designs for Woven Fabrics and Paper Hangings, and that for China Paint- ings, are open to both sexes, and only that for metal work is restricted to male students. If such establish- ments are promoted, we shall not find well-educated females doomed to become half-starved governesses, or compelled, if following some light industrial employment, to hand over to some middle man half of their hard- won earnings, to conceal “ the degradation ” (as they have erroneously been taught to deem it) of earning their maintenance by honest industry. Assuredly, if other departments of industry had been open to women, many of those horrors would have been prevented, which 19 Political Economy, vol. ii. book iv. chap. vii. sect. 3. FEMALE EDUCATION. 39 Hood has recorded in “ thoughts that breathe, and words that burn,” and which Sidney Herbert and others have so nobly stept in to remedy. Once allow that women have equal rights with men to instruction, and that its bestowal is of equal urgency, and the practical difficulties will melt away. Where this conviction is not entertained, molehills will swell into mountains, and nothing can be done. We have heard worthy people who objected to both sexes visiting the same Institution at the same time — they would go home together, and that would be improper, perhaps dangerous ! They forget that places of worship and large workshops, where both sexes are employed, are open to the same objection. In many instances both sexes attend the lectures, and though convenience would dictate that where practicable the male and female classes should be separate, we have seen classes attended by both where the strictest decorum prevailed, probably more than would have been maintained by the separation of the sexes. In large towns it would be quite practicable to have a distinct Institute for the class instruction of females, while the two Institutes might, for greater economy, enjoy the same lectures and library. Small towns would not afford such a division. In Huddersfield, where exists, as Dr. Hook says, “ the only Mechanics’ Institute which has any pretension to meet the wants of the people,” the inhabitants can boast of a Female Institute. The following report, furnished to us by the Secretary of that Institute, is interesting in several points of view : — “ The Huddersfield Female Educational Institute has been established since January 1847, and it was pro- bably the first, as it has been the most successful, of the kind ever established in this country. The manage- ment of the Institute consists of a committee composed of all the lady teachers and of such of the gentlemen teachers or subscribers as may be elected thereto by the » 4 40 mechanics’ institutes. Institute. The pupils also select six of their own num- ber who form part of the Committee. The class of females enjoying the benefits of the Institute is princi- pally composed of factory operatives, milliners, and dressmakers, with a few domestic servants. The num- bers upon the books of the Institution will be about three-fourths above the average attendance ; that is to say, we have about two hundred pupils, with an average attendance of fifty. The subjects taught embrace read- ing, writing, arithmetic, grammar, composition, geo- graphy, history, and plain sewing. The efforts made to attend the classes by some of the pupils are very great, and involve not a few sacrifices. They come two miles, and in some instances more. The ages of the pupils vary from eleven to forty ; the majority of them being over eighteen years. A system of regularly visiting the absentees is kept up by the Secretary ; and he is convinced that, as a means of obtaining informa- tion and securing the interest of the pupils, as also the co-operation of the parents in affording them the oppor- tunity of attending, it is far more important than any other, except that of good and regular teaching. “ With the exception of the secretary and one assistant paid teacher, the instruction imparted is by gratuitous teachers, whose exertions in this particular Institution have been beyond all praise. A feeling of sympathy has sprung up between the teacher and the pupil which has not terminated with their connexion with the Institute, but has continued after the marriage and settlement of the pupil in some instances, and after their removal from the town in others. The Institution has also been the means of introducing deserving pupils to suitable situations, thereby rendering a material service both to employer and employed. This Institution is, like all others of an educational character dependent solely upon voluntary effort for their support, — subject to the most trying difficulties both in respect to the falling off THE HUDDERSFIELD FEMALE INSTITUTE. 41 in its funds in times of commercial difficulty or public indifference, and also from the difficulty of obtaining efficient gratuitous teachers. These difficulties have indeed been so great at times as to lead to very serious discussions as to the propriety of abandoning the In- stitution. 1 ” 20 We commend this account to those heads of families who, considering their female servants as the “ greatest plague in life,” try to mitigate it by changing their plagues twelve times per annum. We have heard them express their horror of servants who could read, and the guilt of such an accomplishment was only sur- passed by the depravity of being able to write. Perhaps such gifts, employed in perusing penny trash, or co- pying stupid poetry, and writing foolish love letters, are not very profitable endowments; but if our do- mestic servants could enjoy such real instruction as is given in the Huddersfield Female Institute, they would know better how to use their leisure, unless it is a mistake to speak of this class of the community enjoying leisure at all. We have tried the system of ignorance, and that fails ; let us try that of knowledge and kind treatment, and see if that will work a change. Perhaps it might. Perhaps they might turn out, after all, to manifest the ordinary qualities of human beings. At least it is worth an experiment. We thus see that the deficiencies of our Mechanics’ Institutes, notwithstanding all their merits, have been many and serious. In the next two chapters we shall endeavour to point out the remedy. These Institutes have overlooked half of the population altogether, and have scarcely touched as yet the other half. They 20 Had it not been for the dis- taken ; but this gentleman has during interested benevolence of one of its the past year contributed in dona- oldest supporters, and its founder, tions and subscriptions more than Samuel Kell, Esq., now of Brad- one half in amount of the whole, ford, that measure must have been 42 mechanics’ institutes. have both wanted guidance as to the objects to be pur- sued, and the means to obtain them. Large numbers of them, established for the work of self-improvement, were formed solely by those who required instruction, unaided by any one who could assist them in the choice of studies, of books, or of lectures. If any su- perficial, but fluent speaker, visiting their neighbour- hood, told them that by means of his sixpenny catechism on Phrenology, they could acquire a whole world of mental science, besides getting a thorough knowledge of the characters of all their acquaintance merely by feeling their bumps, no wonder that a large class would be at once formed for the study. Another might promise them a royal road to all sorts of knowledge, by learning a few arbitrary signs, and a class would forthwith be formed for that. A third would have a system of mnemonics, which would enable the learner to remember everything. The system might be open to the slight objection that it was itself more difficult to retain, than even the facts it was meant to hold tight in the treacherous brain of the learner. No matter — a class for the study was forthwith formed. No one can estimate the amount of time and energy wasted in such abortive attempts to reap the fruits of knowledge, without sowing the seed. The working man requires guidance, both how to learn and what to learn. In the words of one whose whole life has been devoted to the work of promoting education 21 , “ Mechanics’ Institutions have rather pointed the way to Adult Education, and given form and currency to the impression of its necessity, than supplied the want. As solid educational establishments they have yet done little, — they have immensely disseminated the feeling of the want of education, they have not laid their hands to the w r ork. They have given lectures 21 Thomas Wilson, Esq., M. A. THE HUDDERSFIELD FEMALE INSTITUTE. 43 which imply knowledge — rather than taught how to acquire it — essays on literature and science, rather than classes to train up men to the realisation for themselves of the blessings of literature and science — 1 they have played round the head ’ of the mechanic, and awakened a momentary -flash across his brain, but they have c come not near his heart/ nor lightened up in himself — in his mind a fire, that will supply him with constant warmth and light. This they can do, and this they must be made to do.” 44 mechanics’ institutes. CHAPTER II. OBJECTS AND METHODS OF ADULT INSTRUCTION. Mechanics’ Institutes, to answer their end, must become more educational and practical. Miscellaneous lectures and general readings are not study . A man, after listening to such lectures, and reading good books during a whole life, might not understand a simple science, or be master of a single department of human knowledge. His information, like his reading, would be crude, undigested, not always available when wanted, and very little of it probably connected with his own particular vocation. It would also be much less in amount than if he had applied the same time in regular and systematic study. No patent process has yet been discovered, no royal road yet found out, which will impart to a man the power of knowledge, without going through the labour needful to acquire it. Education is not an affair of childhood and youth, it is the business of the whole life. The infant and day school but commence education. The education that should cease with youth would soon pass away as a dream. It is found that even the ability to read and write is lost in multitudes of instances simply for want of opportunity for using it. This is the case equally with more advanced knowledge. What, then, is the instruction which Mechanics’ Institutes should offer to the working classes ? The answer is twofold. There is an instruction which they should receive to fit them for the position of members of a civilised community, and there is an instruction specially adapted to their individual vocations. We shall offer a few remarks on each of these. ARTISAN EDUCATION. 45 Some good people are apt to imagine that when we have furnished the mind with the instruments of know- ledge, reading and writing, we are at the end of our task. They might just as well look upon a knife and fork as a dinner. They say, when a knowledge of these elements has not secured us from the consequences of ignorance, “ Look how education has failed.” The same kind of mistake is made in the education of the superior ranks. It is fancied that because a man knows the name of a stool in half a dozen languages, he must needs know how to sit upon one. We claim for the working man more than a mere knowledge of reading and writing, indispensable as these are. “ If,” as George Combe remarks, “ the working classes have been created by Providence merely to toil and pay taxes, to eat, sleep, and transmit existence to future generations, a limited education may suffice ; but if they are born with the full faculties of moral, intellectual, and re- ligious beings ; if they are as capable, when instructed, of studying the works of God, of obeying his laws, of loving him and admiring his institutions, as any class of the community ; in short, if they are rational beings, capable of all the duties, and susceptible of all the enjoyments which belong to the rational character, then no education is sufficient for them which leaves any portion of their highest powers waste and un- productive.” The working man ought to know something of the world in which he lives, its physical character, its geological history, its relation to the other orbs of our solar system, and of that sidereal system of aggregated worlds in which it is but an atom. The man who is once admitted to this august temple of the universe, where “ glory is thronging on glory and grandeur on grandeur,” will not readily stoop to poorer pleasures. Whatever is mean and base will appear still more so. He ought to be made acquainted with the leading facts 46 mechanics’ institutes. in the history of his race, the rise and fall of empires, and the conditions of the social system in which he lives. “ A man,” says D’Israeli, u who knows nothing but the history of the passing hour, who knows nothing of the history of the past, but that a certain person whose brain was as vacant as his own occupied the same house as himself, who in a moment of despondency or of gloom has no hope in the morrow because he has read nothing that has taught him that the morrow has any changes — that man, compared with him who has read the most ordinary abridgment of history, or the merest philosophical speculation, is as distinct and dif- ferent an animal as if he had fallen from some other planet, was influenced by a different organisation, working for a different end, and hoping for a different result.” He ought to know the wonderful laws of his own body, the unerring compensations which attend upon obedience to these laws, and the punishments that wait upon their neglect. He should know the relation in which he stands to the laws of the world, and taking his happiness into his own keeping, exercise that pru- dence and self-control essential to his welfare, and fulfil those duties which devolve upon him as a moral and accountable agent. “ The great work of mankind on earth,” says an eloquent American writer, “is to live a manly life, to raise, develop and enjoy every limb of the body, every faculty of the spirit, each in its just proportion, all in their proper place, duly co-ordinating what is merely personal and for the present time with what is universal and for ever.” To take an illustration from a single branch of know- ledge, let us suppose that any means existed for con- veying to the mass of the community the teachings of physiology, — not the minutiae and technicalities which are suited only for the medical man, but the broad generalisation of the science. Suppose that the injurious effects of stimulus and excitement upon the system were ARTISAN EDUCATION. 47 pointed out. Might we not hope to diminish the num- ber of young men, and even youths, who may be seen in large numbers every Sunday, and at their period of leisure, debilitating their constitutions by smoking and drinking, and forming habits which but few will ever break off. What a world of folly and ill-health would be spared the young women, if they could once be made to understand the importance of permitting the lungs to have their proper breathing space. How much might be done to promote general cleanliness, and consequent health, if all knew the functions of the skin. And though mere knowledge is not invariably an antidote to sin, where the moral feelings are perverted, there is no doubt that a large proportion of secret vice — vice whose existence is indicated by every newspaper, and placarded on every wall, furnishing the means of sup- port to hundreds of quacks, — would be, if not entirely prevented, at least materially checked, were our youth rightly instructed, and noble pursuits made the employ- ment of the leisure hour. It is not labour which cuts off our working population before half the allotted span of life is over. It is not even poverty, intense as that has been in periods of distress. Elixired and cordialled in infancy by ignorant mothers, uncontrolled by the authority of parents while young, surrounded by the most pernicious examples, their growth is stunted and their strength destroyed even before they reach ma- turity. Want of better objects of pursuit, and utter ignorance of themselves and of the natural laws — these are the causes which, above all others, produce the mass of disease and demoralisation witnessed in our large towns. There is also the special training of the artisan — that which is to better fit him for his “art, trade, or calling.” We are learning to look on labour, not as a disgrace, but as a necessity for all men, — a training for the faculties. We are beginning to see that igno- 48 mechanics’ institutes. ranee is not the necessary, but only the accidental, associate of labour : in the conducting of the business of a manufacturer or a merchant there is as much art as in many of those pursuits of literature and science which bring fame and reputation. Is not the know- ledge which produces from the cotton pod or the fleece a beautiful piece of calico or worsted as great as that required to master Greek and Latin conjugations ? We should honour such studies indeed ; but why science, which serves the wants of millions, should not hold up its head as proudly as that which ministers but to few, — why it should not have its schools, it colleges, and its universities, — is only explicable upon the hypothesis that we have not quite emerged from the errors and darkness of feudalism. In earlier days we have seen small states of but a few thousands of inhabitants exercising a larger influence than empires with as many millions, owing to the su- perior arts and civilisation of the former. The supe- riority of Great Britain over other nations lies in her manufacturing and commercial greatness. It is this which has enabled an insignificant island to conquer and unite vast empires to itself, and to maintain its rank among the greatest nations of Europe. If our ability to manufacture as well and as cheaply as other nations is lessened, if other nations advance at a faster ratio than ourselves in the arts of industry, not only will our superiority be endangered, but our very existence. We have no outlying regions to fall back upon ; the sea, which limits our shores and bears our rich vessels to every clime, would become our curse. Hitherto, it is true, our natural advantages, — our mines of tin, and coal, and iron, — have enabled us to distance all competitors ; and we naturally enough imagine that the superiority already acquired we must inevitably maintain, even though we make no more efforts in the future than we have done in the past. The sooner we rid ourselves of INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 49 this delusion the better. It is not a superiority in na- tural advantages which will longer secure our su- premacy, but the skill and ability to use them. “ As locomotion improves/' says Dr. Lyon Playfair 22 , a the local advantages of the country to which the raw ma- terial is indigenous become of less importance as an element in production ; and industrial competition de- pends more upon labour, — the second factor, — than upon the first. This is certainly the case, or raw cotton could not be imported from America, to be exported as calico ; malachite, sand, and wool, could not come from Australia, to go back as copper, glass, and broad-cloth ; nor could Dutch madder reach us, to return to Holland as printed ginghams ; or horse-hair and fat from Buenos Ayres and Russia, to be returned as hair-cloth and soap. All this shows that the superiority of labour in one country does more than compensate for the disadvan- tages arising from increased cost in the raw material." The increase of the applications of mechanical and chemical science to the arts of life, diminishes in the same degree the value of unskilled labour. The nation which possesses the largest number of skilled artizans, capable of availing themselves of the aids which science lends to industry, will, other things being equal, be the richest nation. “ The fact is every day more apparent," says the same writer, “ that mere muscular labour, in the present state of the world, is little better than raw material, and that both these are sinking in value as elements of production, while nervous or intellectual labour is constantly rising. The whole of industrial competition is now resolved into a struggle to obtain a maximum effect by a minimum expenditure of power." We have carried division of labour to extreme limits, we want the synthesis of labour, the bringing together the knowledge required in each department of industry, so 22 Lecture on Industrial Edu- Museum of Practical Geology, cation on the Continent, at the page 4. E 50 mechanics’ institutes. that he who labours in one may know what aid he can obtain from the others. What have we been doing to cultivate the intelli- gence of our workmen and to unite science with indus- try ? The only institutions that even professed such an end have been our Mechanics’ Institutes ; and we have seen what moderate aims they proposed, and how very far they fell short even of these. But while we have thus been neglectful, almost every country in Europe has been actively engaged in establishing Institutes for industrial education. In Prussia, Saxony, Austria, Bavaria, there are, in addition to the primary schools so plentifully supplied, a large number of trade schools, conveying instruction in those branches of knowledge which have the most intimate connexion with the in- dustrial arts. In France they have the Ecole Polytech- nique, Ecole des Mines, Ecole Centrale des Arts et Ma- nufactures, and the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers . 23 Dr. Lyon Playfair tells us, u that the general charac- ter of all secondary education in Germany is tending towards giving instruction in the wants of the nineteenth century,” that “ industrial schools are increasing abroad, and that the number of their pupils is constantly aug- menting,” and that they are already manifesting their influence on industry. Speaking on the chemical principles involved in the manufactures of the exhibi- tion, he thus warns us : — u The influence of capital may purchase you for a time foreign talent. Our Manchester calico-printers may, and do, use foreign talent, both in management and design. Our silver- smiths and diamond-setters may, and do, depend much upon foreign talent in art and foreign skill in execution ; but is all this not a suicidal policy, which must have, not for the individual manufacturer, who wisely buys 23 For fuller particulars respect- Lecture on Industrial Education on ing these various continental in- the Continent, dustrial schools, see Dr. Playfair’s INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 51 the best talent wherever he can get it, but for the nation, which, careless of the education of her sons, sends our capital abroad as a premium to that intellec- tual progress which, in our present apathy, is our greatest danger ?” 24 In those Institutions situated in the rural districts, — and with proper arrangements there is scarcely a village but might possess one, — the “ industrial instruction ” communicated might exercise an important influence in increasing the application of science to agriculture. Important as the knowledge of chemistry is to the arti- zans of the town employed in dyeing, bleaching, and other trades, it is equally so to the husbandman. “ It performs a part, indeed,” says the Edinburgh Review, “in almost every process, throws light upon every ap- pearance, explains the qualities and uses of all the mate- rials which the husbandman works with or produces, and aims at removing the greater part of the difficulties which lie in his way. The culture of the land, the ma- nuring of the crops, their value when reaped, the feeding and treatment of stock, the manufacture and management of butter and cheese, have all been made the subjects of analytical investigation in the laboratory .” 25 Speaking of the prospects of agriculture, the same writer observes, “It is from the aids of science, hitherto so much under- valued, that British agriculture is to draw new strength. If other nations have outstripped her in any part, she, by the use of the same means, may surely outstrip her present self.” Mr. Mechi, whose merits as a scientific agriculturist are well known, attributes the unprofitable state of agriculture to “two causes — want of know- ledge and want of capital, and that it is unprofitable more frequently from want of knowledge than deficiency of capital. The remedy for these evils is the cornmuni- 24 Lectures on the Results of the 25 Edinburgh Review, Oct. 1849, Great Exhibition, p. 196 . See Ap- page 363 ., Article on Agriculture and pendix C. Science. 52 mechanics’ institutes. cation of agricultural knowledge to both landlords and tenants .” 26 Much preliminary information might be given and a basis laid for larger operations by the cir- culation of books, the formation of classes, and the delivery of systematic courses of lectures in the rural districts. Make scientific agriculture a department of the New Industrial University, let its professors and teachers visit our village institutes and libraries and organise the means of instruction we speak of. By being made the medium of communicating practical and valuable information, these Institutes would assume their due importance in the eyes of the farmer and the land- lord instead of meeting, as at present, contempt and opposition. The value of the knowledge taken on its lowest grounds would repay ten times the cost of com- municating it. No protective duty would raise the value of agriculture so much as the improved intelli- gence of those who pursue it. In the Report on Public Libraries it is stated that in the county of Wigtown, and in many other places in Scotland, when agriculture was in a comparatively backward state, there was a great improvement in husbandry there, chiefly through the influence of such libraries and clubs . 27 What a valuable preparation to the emigrant settler would such inform- ation prove. How much improvement even in other channels would such instruction draw along with it. 26 (( The knowledge will be best promoted and diffused by agricul- tural schools or colleges with farms attached, on the principle of that excellent one now establishing at Cirencester. There should be one or more such establishments in every county in the United Kingdom. There should be agricultural en- dowed colleges of the first order, under authority, where students should qualify by superior practical and theoretic knowledge, passing their examinations and obtaining their agricultural diplomas the same as in law or medicine. Such qua- lified individuals would thus spread over the country agricultural schools and farms, advantages alike to themselves and the rising genera- tion of farmers, who would imbibe sound theoretical and practical in- struction.” (Letters on Agricul- tural Improvement, page QO.) For a very excellent article on County Colleges of Agriculture, by D. F. Duppa, Esq., see the 3rd publica- tion of the Central Society of Edu- cation. 27 Report, page 253. IGNORANCE OF THE PEASANTRY. 53 The meeting together, not merely to bargain or to brawl in the village public-house, but for higher intel- lectual purposes, would, to those whose opportunities for meeting are so rare, have of itself a civilising ten- dency. The landlord, the farmer, the labourer would be brought into more intimate relations with each other. Many other lessons besides those which relate to the management of manures would insensibly and inevitably be drawn in therewith. Other books would be read, other lectures listened to, and the “agricultural mind” would not lag so much in the rear of the rest of the world. If we cannot make the labourer rich in material wealth, we can make the little means he possesses go much further than it would ; and, above all, we can make him rich in the solid advantages of knowledge, and the pure and refined pleasures which spring from its pursuit. “ Many a rough hind,” says Sir J. Hers- chel, “on Highland hills, is as familiar with the Paradise Lost or the works of his great national historians as with his own sheephook.” Deficient as the manufac- turing towns are in educational facilities, the presence of a middle and upper class helps to keep up a higher tone of intellectual life even among those who share but little of its advantages. There is also the newspaper, the cheap publication, the contact of mind with mind — all have to a certain degree an educative influence. All these things are denied to large portions of our agri- cultural population. The pure and ennobling scenes of nature lose more than half their influence for want of culture. And it is among them chiefly that every absurd superstition lingers longest, and where the wildest fanaticism finds most numerous dupes. When some fifteen years ago Mad Thom played his vagaries in Kent, and made numbers of the peasantry believe him to be Jesus Christ, — when eight of his disciples, martyrs to igno- rance , lost their lives by the bullets of the military, it 54 MECHANICS* INSTITUTES. was found that the state of knowledge amply accounted for the result. It was proved how little the ability to “read a little in the Testament/* which so many of these dupes possessed, was able to guard against the grossest delusions. In the cottages, not a Penny Ma- gazine or a single cheap periodical was to be seen. In Herne Hill, one of the scenes of this tragedy, it was found that, “ of fifty-one families examined, seven parents only ever opened a book after the labours of the day were closed. To the inquiry, “ How they passed their time in the lono; winter evenings,’* the answer in most cases was, “ About home, doing sometimes one thing, sometimes another ; but most times, going early to bed for want of something to do .” 28 In Dunkirk and Boughton, adjacent villages, the facts were of the same character. But, indeed, most of the agricultural dis- tricts were in the same predicament ; and, notwith- standing the progress made in the last fifteen years, they are so still. If we have not such events as the Mad Thom tragedy oftener, it is because such per- sonages are scarce, rather than because there is any want of opportunity to play their vagaries. Let but a fanatic Mormon apostle arise in such places, and present daily experience shows that he would find plenty of adherents. What, then, is meant by Industrial Education ? Is it designed to form amateur workshops, where the prac- tical manipulations required in each trade shall be taught ? Such a plan is neither desirable nor possible. Dr. Birkbeck*s first attempts partook of this character, but were speedity changed for the communication of scientific instruction by means of lectures. And in the Edinburgh School of Arts, where at first it was intended to teach the Arts in detail, u it was found best to limit 28 For this, and other information, of Kent. Third publication of the see Report of F. Liardet on the Central Society of Education. State of the Peasantry in the County INDUSTRIAL EDUCATION. 55 the lectures to the general principle of those sciences which are of universal application to the Arts .” 29 Speaking of industrial instruction upon the Continent, Dr. Playfair says of the Trade Institute of Berlin, “ The chief peculiarity of this Institution was its being originally confined to the workmen, who, in addition to the principles of their trade, were even taught their mechanical craft in extensive workshops. It is now, however, acknowledged that this was an error, and that the practice of an art can only be learned satisfactorily in the workshops of industry.” And, again, in some general observations on the continental systems of industrial instruction, he says, — “In all of them there are differences with regard to the mode of giving instruction ; but they are almost uniform in the feeling, that the object of industrial schools is only to teach a pupil how to become an intel- ligent manufacturer, without attempting to make him one. They content themselves with communicating to him a knowledge of the principles upon which his technical art depends ; but for its practice he must go to the workshops of industry. Some of the institutions, as, for example, the “ Trade Institute of Berlin,” en- deavoured at one time to teach practice in workshops attached to the institution ; but this plan, as might have been anticipated, was found to be of little advantage ; and it is now abandoned by almost all the schools, only one or two being still found hovering on the outskirts of this error. # * * # “ We do not think that such schools can substitute a practical training in the workshops, the factory, or the office of the engineer ; but we do think that a producer possessing a knowledge of natural forces will become a practical man in a shorter time than without it, and 29 Lord Brougham, Edinburgh Review, October, 1824, p. 112. 56 mechanics’ institutes. that he will know how to turn his practice to the best account. # # “ The promoters of industrial instruction do not, therefore, offer it as a substitute for practical training, but consider it to be a means by which the latter can be made more efficacious. They do not think that the seed will grow, unless the land is well tilled by the practical farmer ; but they offer to manure the land first, and the ploughing in the manure will enrich the soil, and render it more productive .” 30 No Mechanics’ Institute could advantageously attempt to carry out instruction in the special details and ma- nipulations of the different arts. But it can and should afford the instruction requisite to understand their principles. It could not teach the paper-stainer or the house-painter his trade ; but the same teacher, the same text-book, the same class-room, could furnish in- struction to them both at the same time as to the prin- ciples and harmony of colours. The chemical teacher could not convey instruction in all the arts, for they are numberless, which involve applications of chemical principles ; but having given his pupils a practical ac- quaintance with the general principles of his science, he enables them to make for themselves those applications of its truths which a particular business requires. The student who has learnt to draw from the fiat and the round, and has acquired facility in the use of the pencil, will not find much difficulty in turning his skill to that department of drawing most requisite for him. He who has thoroughly acquired the knowledge of numbers, will find it equally available in calculating the prices of cotton or of corn. The same practical geometry measures equally the size of a field and the distance of suns and stars. And, above all, there is obtained from the mental discipline which study brings, something far 30 Dr. Playfair’s Lectures on Industrial Education on the Continent, p. 32. EDINBURGH SCHOOL OE ARTS. 57 more valuable than the subject-matter wherein it is engaged, — a strong and self-reliant intellect that can adapt itself to the varying emergencies of life. It is impossible to lay down a programme of study, suitable to all classes of Institutes, since it would have to be modified in a thousand various ways, according to the locality, the numbers willing to partake of the advantages of particular classes, and the means available for the purpose. Besides, it is to be hoped, that with the progress of education, a continually improving standard of adult education will be formed. No system of adult education can supply the want, or remedy the defects of early education, though it may mitigate their evils. In the first instance, the great deficiency is of classes for instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic. If we wish the Institutes to embrace the factory-worker and the day-labourer, the instruction offered must descend even to this point. Indeed, the staple of what little class-instruction is now offered in the Institutes is but the knowledge of these elements. Though much remains to be done to convey elementary instruction to adults, the progress of education during the last few years, especially among the better paid class of operatives, opens out opportunities for far more advanced studies ; nor do we know a better model at present than the Edinburgh School of Arts, of which Dr. Hudson says, that it is the only establishment in Britain deserving the title of a “ People’s College.” To gain one of its diplomas, a course of study must be gone through, requiring an attendance of three years. The first year is devoted to mathematics, including arith- metic and algebra ; the second year to chemistry, and the third to natural philosophy. In addition to these classes, the Institute comprises classes for drawing, modelling, English grammar, and French. Classes were also formed for natural history, political economy, and singing, but these have been discontinued. There is nothing in this programme which might not at once 58 mechanics’ institutes. be adopted in all Institutes in the large towns, and, in part, in many of those of the smaller ones, if only the means existed of providing adequate instruction. We do not offer the programme of the Edinburgh School of Arts as the best, we only say that experience has shown that it is a practicable one. “ This Institute,” says Dr. Hudson, 11 has in the 28 years of its existence improved the material and moral condition of no less than 12,000 persons who have received instruction in its classes. To its classes for drawing and modelling, several men who are eminent as sculptors and architects in various parts of the kingdom owe their position in life.” If it were hereafter contemplated to establish a su- perior order of Industrial Colleges, such a course of study would form an excellent preparation for them. Dr. Playfair complains, that in the School of Mines in London, the pupils come untrained in science, and that the time is spent in u teaching its elements instead of its applications. In the trade schools of Germany, pupils are not generally admitted into the upper tech- nical class of mechanics, physics, or chemistry, unless they have passed examinations in integral and dif- ferential calculus.” In drawing, the new School of Practical Art is at- tempting to provide that elementary instruction which will hereafter enable our adult schools to embrace more advanced stages of study. For some years our defi- ciencies in artistic taste have been notorious. When our manufacturers required pattern-designers, they employed those who were trained abroad, but more often they made use of the patterns obtained from thence. The attempts to remedy this evil gave rise to the schools of design. It would be unjust to say that the schools of design have failed, but owing to defects in their management, what they have done has been at an absurdly extravagant cost compared with their results. In the new schools of art, a better organization of these schools will be attempted. The teacher, who WANT OF RROPERLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS. 59 has to pass an examination to show that he understands and can teach the system of study, will visit the day schools, and give instruction to all the children. That this mode of procedure will largely diffuse habits of correct taste among the community, cannot be doubted, and to diffuse such a taste is as important as to have tasteful artizans, who can in their productions, appro- priately minister to it. As Mr. Cole observes, u The manufacturer simply obeys his demand; if it be for gaudy trash he supplies it ; if for subdued refinement, he will supply it too.” While an improved taste will be diffused by introducing drawing on correct principles into all schools, those pupils who show superior abilities will, under the arrangements, have facilities furnished for carrying on their artistic culture to that degree of perfection requisite to fit them for furnishing the highest assistance which manufacturers may demand from art. They will furnish the superior workmen to those trades where artistic skill is demanded. The first essential of any such improvement in the operations of our Mechanics’ Institutes, is the provision of properly qualified and properly paid, teachers. Without this condition, even the proper elementary instruction of our institutes cannot be supplied. The smallness of the number of scholars in adult evening classes arises from want of teachers rather than scarcity of those who need teaching and are willing to be taught. Teachers for elementary instruction there would be little difficulty in obtaining, at least in large towns, if there were funds to pay them ; but the Reports of the Country Institutes are filled with complaints of their inability to obtain teachers. For instruction of a more advanced character, this difficulty might amount to an impossibility. Of* course the character of the class-instruction offered, must partake of the inadequacy of the means of its communication. Mr. Thomas Hogg, formerly the secretary of the Lancashire and Cheshire Union of 60 mechanics’ institutes. Mechanics’ Institutes, says of it, — “ Eacli class is to a great extent isolated from another, and their existence sometimes depends on the fluctuating tastes and wants, often the caprice of the members. There is no regular course of study through which a student is either re- quired or expected to pass. To working men, the classes often present few, if any advantages, except the acquirement of elementary knowledge ; and those really desirous of obtaining in the Mechanics Institution a knowledge of the principles of their trades, seldom find that knowledge there.” 31 u The system, ” observes Dr. Hudson, “ of instruction pursued, appears to have been based on the rule of teaching the largest number with the least possible trouble. The pupil, in entering the Institution, selects the class himself, in which he is placed mechanically at the desk, before his slate or copybook, and, from the effects of the discipline, fitted rather for children than for men, he soon loses all interest in the study which led him to sacrifice his leisure in the at- tainment of solid education.” The cause of such a state of things lies obviously in the want of a properly qualified teacher, who can only be obtained by being properly paid. We have no ob- jection to gratuitous teachers, but they must always be in a subordinate capacity : devotion to the task will help to make up for many deficiencies ; but teaching is an art, and the amateur who takes it up, unconscious of its difficulties, betrays his unfitness for the task. It is singular, that the pursuit of the highest difficulty and importance is that which is least esteemed. Education is the only science which every one thinks he knows without learning, — the only art which nobody seems to think requires an apprenticeship. Dr. Hook, in his excellent Lecture on Institutes for Adult Instruction 32 , has thus stated the objection to 31 Suggestions for the Improve- 32 Delivered at the Church lusti- ment of Mechanics’ Institutes, May, tute, Wakefield, October, 1851. 1851. DEFECTS OF GRATUITOUS TEACHING. 61 gratuitous teachers : — “ Gratuitous teachers cannot he depended upon ; and they require to be viewed rather as assistants than as principals. If you look to gratui- tous teachers, you must be seeking an inferior article : for intellectual power, when duly cultivated, has its marketable value ; and he who offers his service gratui- tously, would make teaching his primary occupation, if he felt himself qualified for the rank of a professor. Or, if he be a man of superior and cultivated mind, he is engaged in some other pursuit, and his class, though an important, is still with him a secondary, consideration, to which he gives the fag-end of his time and an already exhausted mind. In a teacher is requisite not only a competent knowledge of his subject, but an aptness to teach, which can only be acquired, generally speaking, by those who make teaching their sole occupation and study. We demand for the working classes the best article ; and the best article you cannot afford.” Next in importance to the teacher come the tools to work with , under which head we include a library of re- ference, and the class-books, models, and apparatus used in instruction. The school library of reference should be distinct from that of general reference and circula- tion, and its use limited to those who either w r ere en- gaged in the classes or had passed through them. It should contain the leading works on the special subjects of the classes, and the latest additions made thereto. The large and expensive works on architecture, me- chanics 33 , chemistry, would be there, and if confined to those who really wanted them, would be duly appre- ciated. In addition to the library of reference, the In- stitute should possess a museum, and a laboratory and ■ 33 In Mr. Henman’s Lecture on be better laid out in the library than Civil Engineering, and Machinery the lecture-room; and indeed, with generally, he remarks, “ In any in- a few bright exceptions, we have dustrial schools that may be esta- not many men who possess the will blished, I think it will be found that, and power to keep an audience con- for some time to come, so far as en- stantly attentive cn these subjects.” gineering is concerned, money will 62 mechanics’ institutes. illustrative apparatus. No teaching is so effectual as object teaching , when the thinking powers are duly exer- cised ; and if a principle or a fact of science is explained by an illustration palpable to the senses, the effect on the mind is then most vivid and lasting. Watch the interest with which numbers crowd round the platform at the conclusion of a popular scientific lecture. With what curiosity is each piece of apparatus examined! Such helps to instruction are as much required as are the models and drawings of the schools of design. What drawing is to the designer, the carver, and the trades requiring ornament, chemistry is to the dyer, bleacher, and calico-printer, and mechanics to the artizan em- ployed in works of construction. Nothing could show more conclusively the utter disregard of what should be the primary object of these institutions than the fact, that in some of them there exist collections of valuable apparatus which have lain for years unused and covered with dust, as so much useless lumber ; and this, too, in large seats of population and industry, where ample facilities exist for the formation of classes for the study of the different branches of science. It should be borne in mind that those whom we wish to reach, have to perform a day’s labour before they commence their studies. Considering the shortness of the time at their disposal, and that they are unaccus- tomed to habits of study, we see why every “ appliance and means to boot ” should be put within their reach, that the instruction may be as effective as possible while it lasts. Whenever it is determined to put the educational machinery of our institutes on a proper footing, a system of examinations and certificates must be esta- blished. This would be preferable to giving occasional prizes, a plan which tends to breed ill-feeling among the pupils. Each class should have its separate cer- tificate of the pupil having satisfactorily passed through a thorough examination. This is the plan followed in EXAMINATIONS AND CERTIFICATES. G3 the Edinburgh School of Arts, wherein every pupil having satisfied the examiners as to his acquirements, acquires an “ attestation of proficiency. ” If at the conclusion of three years’ attendance the student can furnish attestations of proficiency in all the required studies, he receives a diploma of life-membership, cer- tifying his knowledge on these studies, and giving him free admission to the lectures and library for life, on the payment of two shillings annually. Dr. Hudson justly observes, that u a certificate obtained by a course of study like this, and after examinations so searching and complete, is unquestionably one of the highest and most flattering testimonials which a young man can possess ; it certifies at once the correctness of his conduct, the extent of his studies, and the proficiency he has made ; and go where he will, and apply for what situation he may, this certificate of membership obtained so honourably, must ever be his best recom- mendation, as well as the most powerful stimulus to a line of conduct which should support the character he has acquired.” If the Industrial University in London becomes es- tablished, with its professorships, then might presenta- tions be awarded to each institution embracing the requisite branches of instruction in its plan, and these would be conferred on those pupils who had gone creditably through their examinations, and whose merit and ability promised to repay any extra culture be- stowed upon them. Having already stated the de- ficiencies of the lecturing system as now pursued, we simply suggest, that the remedy consists in diminish- ing, not discontinuing entirely , the number of miscel- laneous lectures, and adding to each winter session, one or two complete courses on those branches of science, for which it was found impossible to provide regular class-instruction. In many places it would be difficult to establish classes for geology, physiology, astronomy, &c., however desirable a knowledge of their 64 mechanics’ institutes. leading principles might be. But even here we would approximate the lectures to class-instruction, by en- abling all who attended a complete course, and were willing to submit to an examination at the conclusion of the course, to do so, entitling those who passed it satisfactorily to honourable mention in the annual reports, or in the way that might be deemed best for the encouragement of the student. It is true, that no ordinary course of lectures, such as mechanics’ insti- tutes in their earlier, and in this respect better, days provided, could compare with the instruction received in the classes, but the student would have the oppor- tunity, by means of the library, of filling up the chasms in his knowledge, as leisure and taste might dictate. It does not follow, because the acquisitions made by the working man cannot rival those of the professor, that they must therefore be useless. He may not become profound in any study, — who is versed in all ? But he may learn many of the leading facts and principles of the most important departments of knowledge ; and through the advancement of knowledge and the im- proved means of conveying it, any man of the least leisure may know more than did the greatest sages of antiquity. If little learning is a dangerous thing, less of it is more dangerous. Like a little money, or a little sense, it is useful as far as it goes. There seems to us a good deal of mistake about what is called “ first-class lectures.” By all means let us have the best teaching and lecturing possible ; but if only those lecturers are meant who are known to fame as the authors of great works, or great discoveries, we must demur to the recommendation ; for if the people are to wait for instruction in science till they can have their lessons at the hands of a Faraday or a Brewster, they must wait for ever. What is wanted is, a correct and popular exposition of the subject ; and though the lecturer should neither enter into all the minutiae, nor DISPUTED TOPICS OF INSTRUCTION. G5 even always state the several applications of the prin- ciples he communicates, nor have ever made a single discovery himself, he may yet be able to convey much and accurate knowledge to others. We have heard Dalton’s atomic theory communicated to a popular au- dience in a better way than Dalton himself ever conveyed it. Indeed, no people’s lecturer, whatever his eminence, attempts to give the refinements of his subject, because he knows the audience would not understand him if he did. Such disquisitions, fit enough at a meeting of savans , like the British Association, are out of place in a popular assembly. There is one subject on which almost every advocate for increasing the efficiency of Mechanics’ Institutes has proposed that they should offer instruction — viz., Political Economy. This subject, both from its own importance and the peculiar view we take of it, requires more than a passing remark. Dr. Chalmers, many years ago, recommended its introduction into Mechanics’ Institutions. 34 If we differ from so great an authority, it is not because we underrate the importance of the subject, but because practical experience has shown that as yet opinion is too much divided, and party feeling too strong, to permit them to be discussed with calm- ness. The question as to the introduction of any subject, whether of religion, politics, or political economy, may be determined by the answer to this question : Is it intended to hear both sides? You only wish to diffuse cor- red views on important questions. Granted. But what is correct ? Who is to be judge? Shall the Committee of the Institute, imitating larger conclaves, sit in judg- ment upon opinions, and decide by majority what is and what is not orthodox ? Are we never to learn the lessons of history, which show that every opinion now boasting its majority was once in a minority — that 34 Christian and Economic Polity of a Nation, chap. xxiv. F 66 mechanics’ institutes. votes are worthless in matters of opinion ? When the time comes, as assuredly it will, that truth shall be held more sacred than opinion, no one will object to free discussion. Common fairness, — the interests of Truth herself, — require that on every disputed topic, sub- mitted to any body of men, they should be prepared to mete out the same fair condition to both sides of the question. Now, we believe the English mind has not yet reached this high standard ; and it would therefore be impossible to unite any large support from men of all parties in behalf of an institution which permitted to all shades of thought the free expression of opinion. Such a union of all parties, however, is essential to any extensively beneficial operation, and therefore the next best thing is, entire and strict neutrality upon all those subjects whereon the fullest expression of opposite opinions would not be allowed. However valuable lectures on political economy would be, therefore, the time has not yet arrived when they can be offered with advantage ; because the spirit of party is still too violent to give all views a fair chance. Even if the Protectionist would allow the defence of free exchanges, the working-man would feel that his view of the subject was not represented, often perhaps misrepresented, and he would stay away. No teacher in this country will gain the ear of the working-man, unless he is willing to have his opinions and statements canvassed, to invite the utterance of conflicting opinion, and to give to truth “ a fair field, but no favour.” This course has not been, and cannot be, adopted in me- chanics’ institutes, and, therefore, any attempt to con- vey economical doctrine, “ sound or unsound,” through their media must prove a failure. Those who deplore the fallacies entertained by the working-classes on the subjects of machinery, the poor-laws, etc. etc. must leave to other agencies the task of removing them. The same objections do not apply to books as to lec- THEIR INDIFFERENCE TO SOCIAL INTERESTS. G7 tures. Books, like newspapers, convince without ex- citing the heats of discussion, — are free from the triumphs of success, or the mortification of defeat. Impartiality in the selection is equally requisite as in the case of newspapers. Exclude, or include, both sides in fair proportions. Any other course manifests a doubt lest truth could take care of itself, and is a con- fusion of your individual right of opinion, with your executive power as a delegate for others. Mechanics’ institutes need notj however, be indifferent to questions affecting the social interests of the working- classes. That they are so is one great cause of their present inutility ; but to their more intimate participa- tion in those interests, we look for their power increas- ingly to attract the working-classes. Although the more debateable subjects cannot with safety be intro- duced, till a greater spirit of candour, forbearance, and kindness to opponents has grown up among us, there is a class of social questions of the highest importance to the working-man, and on which there is little difference of opinion. Lectures on sanitary regulations, in re- lation to ventilation, cleanliness, construction of dwell- ings, &c., would be of immense benefit to the community. Instruction on the importance of economising wages, and on the best kind of investments for the savings of the people, and popular lectures on the principles of assurance, are very much required. Large numbers of the people make no provision whatever for sickness, old age, and death, or those casualties to which all are liable. What- is still more deplorable is, that the little provision usually made, is through the various descrip- tions of friendly societies, which are continually fail- ing, owing to the false principles on which they are based. Much, indeed, might be done in this direction from the platform of the mechanics’ institution, for the domestic and social improvement of the people, and for the originating of a higher public sentiment on many 68 mechanics’ institutes. points connected with general and municipal legislation. We talk much of public opinion and its vast power, and, compared with some countries, have reasons to be proud of its achievements. But this public opinion is an effect even more than it is a cause. The thought inspires one or two men that slavery is wrong, and they proclaim this fact to the nation so loudly and so earn- estly, that at last the nation listens, and we banish the accursed thing from our shores. A few men meeting in Newhall’s Buildings, Manchester, declare, in a very prosaic way, that the corn-laws ought to be abolished. What do they ? Send their lecturers from the Land’s End to John o’Groats, scatter their tracts and essays by the million, and the corn-laws become a thing of history. Another set of men, perceiving that drink was the curse of the working-classes, determine to put it down, and tens of thousands of rescued and regenerated drunkards attest the victory of their lectures and their tracts. 35 The same instrumentality of free speech, and of a free press, is available to the friends of me- chanics’ institutions. It needs but men who know the value of such information to our people as they dispense, and have skill to organise the working-power, in order to effect more wonderful changes than any we have named. M How shall the people hear without a preacher ? and how shall they preach, except they be sent ?” It is some compensation for the exclusion of econo- mical along with other disputed topics, that astronomy or chemistry can in part subserve the same end. Dr. Chalmers has an eloquent passage that we will tran- scribe : — “ Mechanic schools, even though the lessons of economic science should for ever be excluded from them, 35 The increase in the consump- tation, was 50 per cent. ; and in tion of intoxicating liquors, in the fifteen years succeeding, the de- fifteen years previous to the com- crease was 19 per cent, menceinent of the temperance agi- THEIR ELEVATION OF TIIEIR PEOPLE. 69 arc fitted to work the greatest of economic improve- ments in the condition of the people. Whatever may stimulate the powers of the understanding, or may regale the appetite for speculation, by even that glim- mering and imperfect light which is made to play, in a mechanic school, among the mysteries of nature ; or may unveil, though but partially, the great character- istics of wisdom and goodness that lie so profusely scat- tered over the face of visible things ; or may both exalt and give a wider compass to the imagination ; or may awaken a sense that before was dormant, to the beauties of Divine workmanship, and to the charms of that ar- gument, or of that eloquence, by which they are ex- pounded; — each and all of these might be pressed into the service of forming to ourselves a loftier population. Every hour that a workman can reclaim from the mere drudgeries of bone and muscle, will send him back to his workshop and his home a more erect and high-minded individual than before. With his growing affinity to the upper classes of life in mental cultivation, there will spring up an affinity of taste and habit, and a growing desire of enlargement from those various necessities by which the condition of a labourer may now be straitened and degraded .” 36 There are other methods than the direct communica- tion of instruction, which may be beneficially adopted by Mechanics’ Institutions. The scientific instruction of males and females takes the first place, in point of dignity and importance. If our institutes cannot offer it, they will be superseded by agencies that will. But scientific instruction is not alone important. As the artisan is not merely a workman , but a man , he should be, besides a skilful workman, a sober and well behaved citizen. We have stated how greatly general instruction is calculated to promote even this object, but it does not 36 Works , vol. xvi., chap, xxiv, 70 mechanics’ institutes. exhaust all the methods that may be used to accomplish the desired end. Education is a broad term. Every act of life, every scene, every word uttered by oneself or others, leaves its impress upon character. Intelligent philanthropy, recognising the truth, has endeavoured to ameliorate the conditions of the workman’s labour, and to improve the character of the workman’s home. All honour to these efforts ! None can be made that will prove richer in results. But Mechanics’ Institutes claim no lower function ; for they propose to interest u the leisure hour;” and what portion of life is of more im- portance, what more liable to abuse ? They propose to carry forward the instruction which the infant school has but commenced, which the day school has but pre- pared for, to higher developments. And instruction in the sciences which have the most important bearing on a man’s industrial pursuits, his domestic and his social economics, are not the only means of reaching them. Rational amusement and the presence of the beautiful, whether in nature or in art, all tend to close the avenues of his mind to baser pleasures, and to render him worthy of his human destiny. In one of his addresses to the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute 37 , Sir Benjamin Heywood remarks: — “It was thought, and I joined in the opinion, that the study of physical science would essentially contribute to ad- vancement, by its tendency to impress the mind with the infinite power, wisdom, and goodness which the Creator has displayed in all his works. I confess that, upon this point also, I have been disappointed ; I do not find that ‘ to look through nature up to nature’s God ’ is a necessary or even common accompaniment of the study of physical science ; and I am anxious for an altered system of instruction, not merely that we may give to it more variety and interest, but that we may combine with it more moral improvement.” 97 October 11, 1832. REPLY TO OBJECTIONS. 71 “ What, then, is the modification of our plan which seems desirable? It is to adapt our instruction more to the taste and capacity of the working- classes, to make it more elementary and more entertaining, to extend it to a greater variety of subjects, and to connect with it more moral improvement.” Music, gymnastics, cricket, social tea-parties 38 ; such seemed to be the proposed features of the recreative department. Newspapers he did not approve of, but they were subsequently introduced. Yery much controversy has existed as to whether institutions should embrace any other objects than those of direct elementary and scientific instruction, and many of their best friends have strongly opposed the introduction of much that has latterly formed part of their programme of at- tractions. Under suitable limitations, however, re- fining amusements, &c., may be introduced with ad- vantage. It is urged that, by uniting newspapers, recreations, &c., with the strictly educational pursuits of the institution, that the force of the institution is diverted from essential to secondary matters, that there is fostered a taste for light pursuits, until at last people will take nothing solid, save where spiced with some attraction. Moreover, that however good these things may be in their due time and place, it is better to have a separate management and establishment for the various objects, than to agglomerate them into one. There is force in these objections, but they are not decisive. To take the last point first ; it is, doubtless, practicable in very large towns to separately establish many of the features combined with Mechanic’s In- stitutions. There might be a society for providing recreation, another for furnishing cheap news-rooms, 38 The members even made a trip it seems odd to regard a party of to Liverpool. Contrasted with our “ between thirty and forty ” as an own monster trips of the present day, event. 72 mechanics’ institutes. another to take charge of the small savings of the youths 39 , and so on. If each can be founded and sup- ported on so large a scale as to render it possible to conduct them with equal economy of time and expense, if the town is so amply supplied with a public-spirited middle class for their management with vigour and high aims, there might perhaps be some advantage in a separate establishment. In the general run of towns, this state of things rarely prevails ; in the vil- lages, never. In most places few persons are able, and still fewer disposed, to devote their leisure to the management of societies for the public good ; and the extent of the operations, when thus divided, would not allow of the employment of paid agents. If the working-man must go to one place for his technical instruction, to another for his newspapers, to a third for his recreations, each would cost him more, and of each he would get less. But independently of such considerations, we think, an intrinsic advantage will be found in the combined plan; viz., that the thirst for excitement will be moderated in an institute where amusement takes both a subordinate and re- gulated place. How far such extraneous, but related objects shall be introduced, must be left to the good sense of the committee and subscribers. We presume only to offer a few observations on such features as seem capable of being introduced for good. For a long time the introduction of newspapers was resisted as “inconsistent with the objects of the insti- tution. ” The institutions lost many friends in the newspaper, as in every other contest; but they have always attracted additional members, so as to more than balance the loss. It is a real evil if the working-man has no opportunity to read both sides, and this is too much the case in the news-rooms dependent solely upon 39 A special objection is made to Mechanics’ Institutes, viz: the pc - the attaching of a savings bank to cuniary responsibility it involves. USE AND ABUSE OF NEWSPAPERS. 73 the custom of the working-class. But in the mechanics’ institute there is no favouritism in the selection. Indeed, no single instance of complaint on this ground has ever reached us. It is obviously of the highest importance that the working-man, anxious to read the newspapers, should not have to pay a beer or spirit tax to enjoy the privilege. Moreover, though newspapers do not con- vey the best or the highest knowledge, it is impossible to read them without acquiring both much information, and a habit of reasoning which is of great value in the affairs of life. Some people have a horror of pot-house politicians ! With the exception of the pot-house part, we think every man should be a politician ; and it will be ill for our country when its citizens shall delegate their interest in its welfare and affairs to others. The most rabid and radical cobbler that ever neglected his shoes to mend the state, is a better citizen than the cozy comfortable fellow, who would be a contented subject of the Grand Turk, if but secure of his dinner. “ The difference,” as Dr. Lees has remarked, u is not in the depreciated subjective excitement , but in the objective direction. The cultivated man or the half-read poli- tician is interested in the political principle, the ignorant man excited, by the political party. One works and reasons for measures, the other shouts and brawls for men .” 40 At the same time, we readily grant that newspaper reading may be carried to excess, and even abstract time that could be better employed in the classes. The Duke of Argyll thus eloquently deprecates too much newspaper reading : — “ If you wish to be living always in the present, — if you wish to have the din of its con- tentions always in your ears, and the flush of its fleet- ing interests for ever on your brow, — above all, if you wish to have your opinions ready-made for you without 40 Truth Seeker, 1845. 74 MECHANICS’ institutes. the trouble of inquiry, and without the discipline of thought, — then, I say, come from your counting-house and spend the few hours of leisure which you may have, in exhausting the columns of the daily press ; but if your ambition be a nobler one, — if your aim be higher, you will find yourselves often passing from the door of the news-room into that of the library, — from the present to the past, — from the living to the dead, — to commune with those thoughts which have stood the test of time, and which have been raised to the shelves of the library by the common consent of all men, because they do not contain mere floating information, but instruction for all generations and for all time.” The evil might be greatly obviated by admitting no person to the news-room under twenty-five years of age, and by making the fee of admission to include all the other departments of the institute. In some insti- tutes a separate fee has been charged for the news- room, which only helps to exclude the poorer members and attract those whose circumstances do not require a cheap news-room. Nor can we go with those who would exclude mo- derate and rational amusement from the province of our Mechanics’ Institutes. It need not interfere much with other duties of the managers, to provide an occa- sional concert or a dramatic reading. On the other hand, leave the entire amusement of the working-mail to be provided by private enterprise, and it will be found that those who cater to popular wants for gain, must adapt their treat to the low tastes of those who pay for it. It is no longer a question of social morals, but of supply and demand ; not of the elevation of the popular taste, but of gratification. Have the ob- jectors considered the alternative ? Have they ever visited our singing-rooms and casinos ? It is not drink, much as our people are given to drinking, which attracts the majority of the people there. The casino supplies AMUSEMENTS. 75 what neither the gin-palace, nor the beer-house supplies — amusement ; a transient relief from the exhaustion and monotony of daily toil. We have ourselves counted 1300 young men and women in one such place at one time. 41 There the young man learns to smoke and drink, and the sooner he does so, he fancies, the better he asserts his manliness. There the young female learns the meaning of coarse and indelicate allusions, and what is worse, to laugh at them, the descent to prostitution is afterwards neither difficult nor slow. There the grossest buffoonery may be heard, and the stupidest exhibition seen. What sort of school is this, whence to expect good servants or dutiful children? — what sort of preparation is it for those who either already have assumed, or shortly will assume the responsibilities of married life, — of parental obligation ? How will they become fitted to be the manly citizens of a free country ? These are questions which the legislator, the patriot, and all who have any interest in our country’s well- being, would do well to consider. And let us not blame the working-classes, at least not solely. Few of them had ever an opportunity of knowing better. If they went to school at all, they were removed before they could be permantly impressed. They have seldom cheer- ful homes, supplied with the attractions and comforts of life. Would the young man enjoy the charms of music ? There are no nimble ready fingers to touch the piano ; no fine books, engravings, or chess-board to wile away a spare hour. Fatigued with the day’s toil what shall he do for a little excitement, or how ward off sleep till bedtime ? Exclude the working-man from opportu- nities of spending a leisure hour unprofitably if you like, and you shut the door of your institute on half of those who now enjoy its advantages. To raise the working-man we must take hold of him where he is, not 41 See Appendix C. 76 mechanics’ institutes. where lie is not. Attract him, get possession of him, and you may lead him by degrees to something better. Those who are students will, when suitable teachers are obtained, find their congenial employment — those who are not, will at least find harmless ways of spending time. Minerva, with a stern aspect, should never be the em- blem of a people’s institute ; rather let us take radiant Apollo, who bears his harp as companion to his philo- sophy. In small villages, the attractions of the institute, like its instructions, cannot be so complete and perfect in their character as in large towns. The Hon. and Eev. Sydney Godolphin Osborne, who looks at these topics as prac- tical questions to be dealt with, proposes that there should be a sort of moral beer-house opened in these villages, where the meal of bread and cheese and beer, and even the pipe, should not be excluded. In a large well lighted, well warmed, convenient room, under the control of a steward, one of the more respectable in- habitants of the village, he would provide “a small book- case, under the steward’s custody ; in this, for the use of the members, we would keep a certain number of plain amusing books, chiefly of a secular character. From time to time, these books to be changed for others of a like nature. On the same tables we would place copies of such works as the ‘Illustrated News’ perhaps a number or two of the county or other newspapers.” The steward should have no interest in the sale of the beer, of which only a limited quantity should be admitted. Spirits, gambling, quarrelling or bad language not to be allowed and no person under eighteen to be admitted. As an experiment w r here a higher order of institute is im- practicable, and where habits of drunkenness have taken hold of the population, the suggestion deserves a trial. By degrees a few more books, a few more classes, and now and then an interesting lecture ; and no doubt the members of the moral beer-house would themselves OCCASIONAL EXHIBITIONS. 77 speedily vote the expulsion of John Barleycorn and his smoking companion . 42 Speaking of the Miles Platting Institution, Sir. B. Heywood, in one of his addresses at the Manchester Institution, said “We are endeavouring to make our ^reading-room there very popular, to have in an evening a blazing fire, red curtains, easy chairs, a capital cup of coffee, chess, pictures, now and then a good story read aloud, now and then a good song ; in short, to see if we cannot make it a match for the public house, as a place of resort for the working-man after his day’s work. In summer we should be glad to see conveniences for gymnastics, cricket, and other manly exercises ; and it would add many years to life, especially to those engaged in sedentary occupations, as clerks, tailors, shoemakers, &c. At some institutions they have been introduced with great advantage. Gymnastic exercises in the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute ma- terially improved the health of the members. A swimming-bath would be a useful addition. In winter, meetings of a social character should be encouraged.” Another very advantageous way of refining the taste, and increasing the information of the working-classes, is by occasional exhibitions. When well managed, they materially improve the finances of the institution. The exhibitions, as they have been usually held in connection with mechanics’ institutes, are a sort of polytechnic gallery of w’orks of art, as pictures and statues, models of machinery, specimens of natural productions, & c. Most of the objects are lent by persons in the town and 42 The public-houses have made were the ale-pots and the alcoholic some advance; for the number of mixtures. In several of the suburban newspapers has been greatly increased, districts a few books have been in- and in some instances nights have troduced into the public-houses, for been set apart for political discussions, the use of parlour visitors ; and there which have been well sustained in is an indication of improvement the bar-parlours. At an inn in the springing up which may commend Kennington Road, lectures on As- the future. — Hist, of Adult Educa * tronomy have been delivered to t ion, p. 211. extensive smokers, before whom 78 mechanics’ institutes. its neighbourhood, but a few are hired. To a man of benevolent mind the gratification derived from a beau- tiful work of art which he may possess, is doubled by participation. And that pleasure must be heightened by the reflection that he is rendering most important aid to the funds of the institution. If the gain to the person who spares a picture from his drawing-room, a statue from his hall, or a machine from his shop, is great ; if the funds of the institute are increased, and the attention of large classes attracted to the advantages of an institute whose very existence was unknown to them, — the gain to the public is no less. At an almost nominal sum the inhabitants of a small town are enabled to view a collection of objects whose cost and extent would not be unworthy of the metropolis itself. The first exhibition of this character was that of the Manchester Mechanics’ Institute ; it was opened on the 27th of December, 1837, and remained open nearly six weeks, and was visited by upwards of 50,000 persons. Speaking of it at the following annual meeting of the members 43 , Sir Benjamin Hey wood, in the warmth of his feelings said: — u How delightful is the contemplation of everything 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 contributions of all kinds were offered to it by thousands and tens of thousands, who had never seen anything 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 hither- to been excluded? It was delightful to see the counte- nances, beaming with pleasure, of the working-men, 43 Feb. 28th, 1838. OCCASIONAL EXHIBITIONS. 79 their wives, and their children, as they thronged through the rooms, and gazed upon different objects ; and I 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, 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 own town be the first to profit by the example, and let us see our National 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 ? ” So successful a beginning was sure to be imitated. At Sheffield, Ripon, Gateshead, public exhibitions were got up. 44 The Liverpool Mechanics’ Institute has had three exhibitions. By the first, in 1840, they cleared 2093/. ; by the second, in 1842, 2000/. ; and by that in 1844, 1100/.; or a total of 5200/., and this, notwith- standing many thousands of children, and the police, and military, were admitted free. In Leeds, an exhibi- tion was held in 1839, and the results were equally gratifying. The report of the directors thus speaks of it: — “Deep regret was expressed, again and again, that either that, or some similar place of resort, could not be kept open throughout a large portion of the 44 See Appendix D. 80 mechanics’ institutes. year, by many whose previous resort had been to places of low gratification, or who had listlessly whiled away their time in mere idleness. The committee feel every assurance that much good was done by the experiment. Their space will not allow of enlargement ; but they may enumerate the following as the most important and valuable results : — kindness and liberality in meeting and gratifying the public taste, by the more wealthy members of society, were largely elicited ; public spirit was developed in the arduous performance of most onerous duties, and largely encouraged and rewarded by the success attendant on their faithful discharge ; it was demonstrated that other gratifications than the grosser ones of the appetite have power over a large portion of the community, and the public at large may be safely admitted to the inspection of the most valuable collections of art and nature ; it was further Shown thar sentiments of kindliness, and habits of courtesy and order, are more generally spread throughout society than is commonly believed; and lastly, the wonders of human art, and the works of the Deity, miracles compared with those wonders — were brought before the close gaze of nearly a hundred thou- sand persons, the greater proportion of which immense number had never before enjoyed such a spectacle ; and it cannot be doubted that a great stimulus has thereby been given to a laudable curiosity, to scientific inquiry, and generally to the cultivation of such tastes and habits as must materially aid the moral progress of society.” 45 45 The attendance of visitors, and the pecuniary results were as under, the exhibition being open three months. £ s. d. 87,908 persons were admitted at 6d. each. - - 2197 14 0 6 220 were admitted by Season Tickets, at 2.9. 6d. - 777 10 0 Sale of Catalogue, Poetry printed at the Exhibition, Confectionary, &c. ------ 425 0 0 Total. 3400 4 0 EXHIBITIONS. 81 Permanent exhibitions of the same objects would soon lose their novelty and attractiveness, and consequently their chief value. In our large towns annual or biennal exhibitions, on the same plan as those of the Mechanics’ Institutes in the United States, would be very useful. These Institutes, says Dr. Hudson, “hold annual fairs for the exhibition of mechanical arts, and any person has the privilege of depositing machinery or manufactured goods of any description, or the raw material. These exhibitions or fairs generally last two or three weeks, and are profitable not only to the Institution, but to persons exhibiting machinery or goods .” 46 Speaking of the Institutes in our Canadian possessions, he remarks, “ their annual exhibitions are purely of a practical nature, affording the best popular evidence of the progress of scientific discovery. The managers of the Canadian Mechanics’ Institutions endeavour to instil into the minds of their members a regard for the great principles of the Arts ; and they serve to impress upon the thousands who visit thier exhibitions, the importance of the study of physical science, as the chief element in the development of civilisation. Their exhibitions extend beyond the Polytechnic exhibitions of London"; for while they elucidate, by short lectures, the value and importance of new discoveries in science, the best methods of farming, and point out the desirability of creating as it were new articles in produce, they carefully abstain from the fire cloud and phantasmagoria, and apportion their receipts to the extension of the library, and the improvement of the mechanical workshops.” “ The total number of visits paid 1800/., with which the committee, hy the holders of Season Tickets aided by a further subscription from was 9^,005, forming, with the single several spirited individuals, have admissions of 87,908 persons, a purchased a very suitable Hall for total number of visits of 183,91 3. the Institute .” — Leeds Report, 1810, The expenses were of course con- 46 History of Adult Education, siderable, amounting to upwards of pp. 218 and 219* 1600/., yet leaving a balance of Gr 82 mechanics’ institutes. Excursions have been frequently made by the members of Mechanics’ Institutes, to places memorable for their beauty or their historic associations. In the present day, when excursions are so plentifully offered by the railway companies or parties contracting with them, committees need scarcely divert their energies from the general purposes to provide them. If the excursion were combined with some interesting account of the locality visited, on the spot , such visits would have a highly educational value, might occasionally be conducted by the Institutes, and when done judiciously, would render pecuniary aid to its funds. The Saturday half-holidays, now becoming general, would afford fine opportunities for short excursions, pedestrian or other- wise, and under the direction of an intelligent member of the Institute, might be useful in the study of nature, the natural history of the district, and the formation of local museums. One very advantageous feature has been added to a few Institutes in Yorkshire, for the purpose of fostering and forming more economical habits among the youths of these Institutes. We allude to the Penny Savings’ Banks proposed in 1850, by Mr. Charles W. Sykes, of Huddersfield. His plan is briefly as follows : — “ I venture to suggest a method hitherto untried, namely, that the humbler members of each Mechanics’ Institution should be encouraged to ‘ transact a little business, with a preliminary savings’ bank within the Institution, for which purpose some of the leading members might form a small 1 Savings’ Bank Com- mittee,’ attending an evening weekly to receive their trifling deposits — their threepences — their sixpences, and, perhaps, their shillings — giving each party a small book, and so on as his sum reached, say 21. 2s ., paying it over to the Government savings’ bank of the town, in the person’s name, and giving to him or her the new pass-book. This is to be repeated until ano- PENNY SAVINGS* BANKS. 83 ther guinea be accumulated, to be again transferred, and so on, — no interest being allowed until paid over to the Government savings* bank. The little book- keeping requisite would be very simple — and from always being paid over when it reached 11. Is., or 21. 2s., the liability incurred would be very limited. A list of the balances (with the ledger folio corre- sponding with the pass-book, and signed by the trea- surer) to be suspended in the room each half year, thus enabling each depositor to see that his money is safe.** The plan has been adopted in several Institutes with great success. The humble savings here com- menced will doubtless, in numerous instances, form a foundation for habits of prudence and economy. It is certain that much money thus saved will find its way to the funds of the Institution itself, or promote objects of an equally beneficial character. Although it would be undesirable, and perhaps impracticable, for Me- chanics’ Institutes to mix themselves up with the prac- tical conducting of the affairs of Friendly and similar Societies, they might benefit both those societies and themselves by providing accommodation for their meetings. The working man visiting his club would oftener stray into the reading room or the library, than, as he now does, into the tap room or the bar. The heavy tax now levied “ for the good of the house,” would be directed into the fund of the Society or of the Institute, for his own benefit instead of the publican’s. Another way of inducing the working classes to feel a more intimate connexion between such Institutions and their material well-being, would be by providing proper means for registering the names of employers seeking workmen, and of workmen seeking employ- ment. If the register for the latter specified the classes in which the workmen had attained proficiency, employers seeking for a man of superior qualifications would know where to look for him. The registers of 84 mechanics’ institutes. tlic local Institutes might be sent to a central union of Institutes, and there be classified and arranged under the heads of the respective trades. It should then be printed and returned to the respective societies, and thus the working man in search of employment would learn not only the name of employers in his own loca- lity seeking his services, but those of employers all over the kingdom, a matter to him of immense im- portance now that railways have so facilitated inter- course. He might thereby often be saved long months of privation, idleness, and its consequent bad habits, or avoid an inroad upon the little store saved up against the season of sickness and age. The machinery re- quired for such a plan is obviously so very simple, consisting merely of a properly kept register, open for reference to all, whether employers or employed, con- nected with the Institute, that we make no apology for proposing it. We are convinced, that if efficiently carried out, few plans would more tend to attract both these classes to support the Institute in return for the valuable assistance thus rendered. A general remark may be added as to the intro- duction of amusement or objects of a still more im- portant nature, namely, that they must ever be subor- dinate to the main purposes of the Institute, which should never be permitted to degenerate into a mere news-room, or a club for concerts and dramatic read- ings. We do not, as we have said, consider such things generally incompatible with rigorous attention to the class and lecture instruction, but in some cir- cumstances they may become so — and, in such in- stances, we had better omit amusement entirely, than peril the efficiency of these important departments. IMPROVEMENT OF THEIR FINANCIAL POSITION. 85 CHAPTER III. BUSINESS MANAGEMENT. We have stated as briefly as the subject admits of, some of the deficiencies of Mechanics’ and similar In- stitutes, and endeavoured to point out those which it is peculiarly desirable should be supplied. Between those social reforms to be desired, and those that can be achieved, there is in a popularly governed society like our own a great gulf fixed. u So many men, so many minds,” is here the rule. In this country every depart- ment of our great national institutions is the result of growth from small beginnings, sometimes of centuries. We do not adopt schemes of improvement suddenly and entire, however desirable the end. So it will be with Adult Education. It would be easy to propose grand schemes of instruction, borrowed from the American or continental models, highly excellent in themselves. But when we are so far in the wake even in the primary instruction of the day school, it is vain to expect that we shall at once recover our way in adult instruction. No proposal will be listened to which does not go upon the basis of existing agencies. Little as some may estimate the Mechanics’ Institutes, they may not be superseded. Whatever interest the people have in their own education, is centered there. They embrace those who best love popular improve- ment, who have devoted the energies of their life to this work — men who bore the standard of progress during the burden and heat of the day of opposition and of conflict. The first step required to render these Institutes adequate to the purposes aimed at, is to increase the means at their disposal . Unless this is done, we see 86 mechanics’ institutes. little chance of their improvement. There are three sources from which such an increase may be derived : 1st. The contribution of the working classes them- selves ; 2nd. The donations of the wealthy ; and, 3rd. Aid from the State. That the working classes do not contribute enough to pay for any adequate instruction is well known. There is some excuse for this in the fact, that since the year 1823, when these Institutes were first established, up to the last two years, their condition has generally been most depressed. Gleams of prosperity there have been, but the working man had scarcely begun to bask therein, when over-trading, bubble speculations, bad harvests, produced a commercial crisis, and consequent wide-spread privation. Making all reasonable deduc- tions for such circumstances, we are of opinion, con- trary to the prevalent impression, that the rate of contribution has been fixed too low. The object was to meet the working man’s small resources, but the consequence has been the establishment of a vicious precedent, whose influence it will be difficult to abolish. From facts we have ascertained, it appears that out of 100 Institutes there were 18 Institutes in which the average annual subscription was under 5s. 51 Institutes above 5s. and under 10s. 21 „ 10s. „ 12s. 11 „ 12s. „ 20s. 46a The total income of 103 Institutes in the Yorkshire Union, was in 1852, 8452 1 . or an average of about 82 1 . per Institute. 47 This is a very small sum to main- 46a Out of 13,000 members in six Institutes in all parts of the eighty-one Institutes in Yorkshire, country showed a total income of whose subscriptions were classified, 8356/., or an average of 87/. per Insti- upwards of 8000 members pay a sum tute ; and in the same year, returns under Zd. per week, and 6000 or from seventy-nine Institutes showed nearly half, pay under \\d. per week, that the average minimum rate of — Yorkshire Union Report , 1853. contribution was 4s. 6d. per year, 47 In 1840, returns from ninety- and the average maximum rate 14s. WORKING CLASSES PAY TOO LITTLE. 87 tain even a small Institute efficiently. Deduct rent, gas, fire, expense of books, periodicals and papers, binding, cleaning, attendance of managers and secretaries, and what is there left for the payment of lectures and teachers ? A difference necessarily exists between In- stitutes in the towns and those in the rural districts, owing to the difference of wages. But no principle of relation between the cost of the thing wanted and the price charge for it, has ever been attempted to be ascer- tained. In one little village where the management of the Institute happens to be good, as much as 1 35. per head per annum is contributed, while scores of Insti- tutes with from twice to ten times the populations, hobble on with about 1 d. per week, or 45. per annum from each member. Now either one charge is too high or the other is too low, and those who have had the practical management of Institutions will not hesitate to affirm the latter alternative. To think that a sum not more than what the working man is willing to pay to a barber for shaving his beard, or to a publican for a single glass of beer, is to be charged for all the advan- tages which such an Institute professes to afford, — . library, news-room, classes, lectures- — a week’s educa- tion and amusement, — is preposterous. We are ac- quainted with an Institution, in a busy manufacturing town containing 10,000 inhabitants, where the total income for paying rent, lighting, cleaning, attendance, lectures, teachers, books, and periodicals, is not above 25 1. per annum ! A sum which the keeper of any of its “free and easy” singing saloons would consider a small sum for providing the liquor and amusement of a single week. With such ridiculously small incomes, the com- mittees of these Institutions can provide no advantages to tempt the working man within the walls. If he wants a clean, comfortable, well lighted and well warmed room, he is much more likely to find it at the ale-house, than at the Institution. If he wants teaching, lie soon 88 MECHANICS INSTITUTES. discovers that here at least nothing can be taught that can interest or improve him. He does not subscribe to the Institute, for he can gain nothing by so doing, and the Institute can give nothing because he furnishes no means, — thus an unfortunate circle, in which small means and small advantages mutually alternate as cause and effect, is established. In the present uninstructed condition of the working classes, there is but small hope that the remedy for this state of things will be initiated by them, — but could ample facilities and advantages be furnished to them by any means in the first instance, there is no doubt that much larger members would join these Institutions, so that a considerably higher but not excessive rate of subscription might be obtained from them, probably double or even treble the amount now paid. Experience indicates that the amount obtainable from the working classes might be much increased by taking it in small sums. A pound per year, paid weekly, or at short intervals, would be far less formidable than paid at yearly or half-yearly periods, though both modes of payment should be adopted . 48 Another source from which increased funds might possibly be looked for, is the contributions of the wealthy. We say possibly, for unless some increased inducement were held out to that class, much more could not be obtained from them. If they saw that superior workmen were produced by better instruction being afforded, they would do more. There are many who object to any contributions to these Institutes from the richer classes. They urge that these Institutions “ ought to be self-supporting.” Since the improved prospects of trade and increased demand for labour have given general employment, and to some extent raised wages, many who did contribute have withheld or di- 48 In the Huddersfield Institute the payments are fortnightly. ASSISTANCE OF THE WEALTHY REQUIRED. 89 minished their help under the plea. From one point of view the proposition seems reasonable enough. They who enjoy an advantage ought to pay for it. Moreover, looking at the fifty millions spent in intoxicating liquors, and the additional six or seven millions in to- bacco, to say nothing of other equally objectionable ex- penditure, no one can doubt that the working classes can pay for their education. But these considerations do not decide the question. When they are urged as honest objections, and not merely as an excuse to avoid giving (for to this class of objectors no reply would be conclusive), it is forgotten that they imply in the work- ing classes the possession of the very qualities whose absence is deplored. Men ought to be virtuous, religious, &c. &c. ; but no sane man thinks that in having uttered these truisms he supersedes an obligation resting on him and on all to seek the realisation of such conditions where they do not exist. We might as well refuse our contribution to the Missionary Fund, “ because the Blacks ought to evangelize themselves,” as refuse aid to Mechanics’ Institutes, because they ought to be self- supporting. When the savage is converted, he will support his own church, so when the working-man is educated, he will support his own college ; and to this standard we should endeavour to attain. Nor does the obligation to contribute to the elevation of one’s fellow creatures terminate by giving a pecuniary subscription. Help given in such a way as to destroy habits of self- dependence is ever mischievous. Contributions from the wealthy may be so appropriated as merely to reduce the subscriptions of the members. The working-men, instead of paying 4 d. or 6c7. a week, pays 2 cl. or Id. The utility of the Institute is not increased a whit, the subscription is reduced till it bears no proportion to the income of the working man, or to his expenditure on objects of infinitely less value and importance. The cheapness is false, because the quality of the article is 90 MECHANICS INSTITUTES. bad ; the charity is false, because it cripples, while it professes to support. We could name Institutions which regard the funds supplied by those who never enter their walls as the regular means of support, and the contributions of the members as accidental and un- certain ! The true principle is for the working man to contribute at the highest rate he can fairly afford ; and as this may not provide means of instruction so good as is to be desired, let whatever aid he receives go to in- crease its effectiveness , — in short, give him a better article for the same money, rather than a worse article at less. That the working classes will pay a much larger sum than is usually asked from them by these Institutes, is shown by the fact, that they paid 6d., 83 This would save the stamp, as being as much as the whole subscrip- the Institutes might get them in tion paid for membership in the ma- their parcels, jority of Institutes. To members of the Society of Arts it is issued gratis. EXAMINATIONS AND CERTIFICATES. 157 membership should be sufficient, if his admission is required but for two or three days. When the ad- mission is required for a longer period, a travelling; card issued by the Union, and distributed to all the Institutes permitting the interchange of privileges, would be the readiest mode of carrying out the system. , Some limitations must, however, be per- mitted to the Institutes, to prevent abuse. It has been found that persons (and even some well-off in circumstances) residing in the neighbourhood of large towns, have joined a village Institute outside, to enable them to visit the large Institute of the town on market days, thus substituting Id. per week subscription for one, three, or four times larger. The importance of examinations and certificates of proficiency has already been insisted on. If the Union were to appoint a board of examiners, who should hold periodical examinations, it would meet the case of Institutes situated in the smaller towns, and which might experience some difficulty in finding persons competent to the task; even larger Institutes would probably be glad to have the services of such examiners if judiciously selected, from the confidence which their certificates of proficiency would give. The recommendation of teachers for the classes and day schools of Mechanics’ Institutes, the pointing out of improved modes of tuition, the recommending of new and good apparatus for teaching ; of furniture for schools and class rooms, — these are points that but indicate the extensive field of usefulness in which an efficient and active central body might labour. But for a central body to reap either the advantages to which we have called attention, or any others which augmented experience may show to be possible, ade- quate means must be placed at its disposal. In a well organised association the whole becomes not merely equal to, but greater than, the parts. Now to expect 158 MECHANICS* INSTITUTES. from any combination a result disproportionate to the contribution made to it, will merely lead to disappoint- ment. Either Institutes must contribute more to such Unions, or expect less from them. We do not mean contributions in funds merely, but in sympathy, and participation in common objects. So little sensible are the Institutes generally of the advantages of such Unions, or perhaps it would be more just to say, so badly are they themselves managed, that they frequently neglect to reply to the letters from the Central Com- mittee. What would a merchant think, or how could business be carried on, if such neglect should take place in commercial transactions ? No doubt the (too often unpaid) Secretary of the Institute finds enough demand upon his little leisure for the ordinary purposes of the Institute ; perhaps too he has a dilatory Committee to consult before he can reply, and so he omits altogether . 84 The Secretary of the Union, also unpaid, cannot spare time for other correspondence than that of a printed circular ; hence no intimate knowledge can spring up between the central body and the local Institute. All this is lamentable, and would not be tolerated an instant if the central body and the local Institutes were private persons engaged on matters of s. d. And is it to be supposed that because the objects aimed at are of a more elevated character, and for the public benefit, that the ordinary rules of busi- ness can be disregarded? We may be assured that no association will succeed unless it can contrive to infuse the same energy, the same skill, order, and punctuality, into the details of business, which characterise well- managed private establishments. It may be great at annual speech-makings, but any Society, or any Union 84 The Secretary of the Northern Union at a reduced rate of subscrip- Union lately addressed 81 Institutes, tion. We could furnish a score of and received answers from 17* His similar instances, application to them was to join the CONCLUSION. 159 of Societies, which does not contrive to confer solid advantages on its constituents, is at the mercy of every accident, and will speedily be added to the list of the many well-meant, but ephemeral organisations which the last few years have witnessed. We have thus endeavoured to trace the nature and causes of the deficiencies which our Institutes for Adult Instruction exhibit, to point out the objects at which they should aim, and the means by which they are to be secured. If by the means suggested, these Institutes could be placed in a position of solvency and efficiency, the next ten years will suffice to show greater results in the improved intellectual condition of the people of this country than has been achieved in the last thirty years, great as the progress has been in that time. Nothing would more effectually disarm the hostility, secret or avowed, of the opponents of popular education, than a recognition of their objects by the State, in the way recommended. It would also tend to attract the highest order of talent, both literary and scientific, to their lecture halls, and season the mediocrity which pre- vails there. Superior lectures would bring the middle ranks, superior class instruction would draw the opera- tives to the Institution, and thus a common ground whereon they could meet would be secured, and a friendlier, healthier feeling between the employer and the employed be promoted. The domain of political liberty is enlarging; if we would use it aright, if we would guard against fatal reactions, we must multiply intelligence in at least an equal degree. The right of free inquiry, the obligation to seek for truth, are be- coming generally acknowledged, and acted upon. With- out education, this right is but ridiculous presumption, liable to lead to all kinds of absurdities. We have invited the world to free competition, — the competition of intelligence, — we stake our industrial pre-eminence on the issue. If we fail to keep up our superiority, it 160 mechanics’ institutes. will be our fault and our shame ; the lesson of 1851 will for us have been in vain. Our Institutes are not what they ought to be, what they might be ; but we have this satisfactory thought — that there exists a remedy, that no insurmountable obstacle prevents their being equal to the great purposes they have to fulfil. Let us not, through apathy or a contented self-conceit, fail in our part in the work of progress and civilisation ; let us show ourselves worthy of the blessings we inherit, by transmitting them with increased power to our suc- cessors. 1G1 APPENDICES, APPENDIX A. Page 3. Extracts from Memorials addressed by Corporations and other Public Bodies to the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations . Birmingham . Your Memorialists have long felt the necessity of some more extended system of practical and scientific education in Eng- land, which should place within the reach of the industrial classes a much higher standard of scientific attainments than they can now ever hope to possess without very ample means. Your Memorialists are convinced that with greater facilities in elementary scientific education, intimately connected with, and always accompanied by, practical illustrations and mani- pulations, there would be found as much original genius and talent to develop in the people of this country as in those of the great continental states of Europe ; and that such development would greatly facilitate the maintenance and ex- tension of our manufactures and commerce. The great and rapid strides which locomotion has taken on the Continent, and the constant international communication which is the result, have extended science and mechanical and artistical knowledge widely over those nations; and thus one vast school of arts and sciences exists, with its members in constant communication, from which this country is partly excluded from its geographical position. Some of your Memorialists, in their late visit to Paris, have witnessed the advantages which the rising generation of manu- facturers is there enjoying in their educational establishments ; and although not favoured by the possession of such vast M 162 APPENDIX A. resources in raw materials, mineral wealth and fuel, as Great Britain has the blessing to enjoy, they have established such colleges as the conservatory of arts and manufactures, and the central school of arts and manufactures, which are especially destined for the instruction of manufacturers and artisans, either entirely free or at a low charge. These central colleges under the charge of the State, and with most efficient and interesting museums attached, have ramifications extending over other important manufacturing districts of the country. In such schools are the youth of France brought up, re- ceiving, particularly in the provincial schools attached to the conservatory, and in the central school of arts, the highest standard of scientific instruction in connection with the arts, manufactures, and design, matured by practical illustrations and experience in manipulation, and a knowledge of the par- ticular trade in which they are eventually to devote their professional talent as designers. Numerous young men educated at these colleges of first- rate talent and practical experience pass examinations of very high standard, and receive diplomas, which are a passport for them to many parts of the continent as managers and directors of most important manufactories and establishments, and en- abling them to find lucrative employment even in England. From these sources have sprung some of the most eminent men of the age, enjoying rank, consideration, and wealth, derived from the systematic education which they receive there. Your Memorialists admit with pleasure and gratitude that the government has already made a great step in advancing this object, by the establishment of Schools of Design, and the Museum of Practical Geology ; but still the first are only partial in their advantages, and the latter only an isolated branch, which exerts but little immediate beneficial influence over the arts and manufactures generally. Bristol. Your Memorialists abstain from any details as to the benefits to be derived from the adoption of such an institution, and content themselves with merely suggesting, that, if any plan analogous to that above referred to should meet the approval and countenance of your honourable board, you will devise APPENDIX A. 163 such means as will render it as diffusive as possible, and take measures that it shall become an institution not confined to one locality, but by means of provincial schools in connection with a Metropolitan Central College, pervading and receiving attention and encouragement in the great manufacturing and commercial cities of the empire, so that what is at this moment a just source of national pride may, in its ultimate results, prove a national blessing. Halifax. Your Memorialists, immediately identified with one of the most important branches of the fancy textile productions of this country, have long felt, in common with other manufacturing districts, the great disadvantages under which they labour from the lack of a more accomplished education amongst the operative classes of the united kingdom, in the higher departments of art and science. Your Memorialists therefore humbly submit that a more appropriate dedication of the surplus funds, nor one more directly in harmony with the original expressed intention of your Honourable Board, could hardly be adopted than that of founding on a national basis a scheme of education, calculated to remove the disadvantages already referred to, alike import- ant to the prosperity and welfare of every class of the com- munity. It is abundantly recognized to what extent institutions of this kind have been promoted by our continental neighbours, and were practical evidences of the important benefits resulting from such a course not otherwise supplied, the truly elegant productions of France, Italy and Germany, which grace their several departments in the Crystal Palace, would amply esta- blish them. Your Memorialists feel it unnecessary to enter upon the de- tails of such a project, as they will be so much more ably dealt with by your Honourable Board. They would only add that, in their humble judgment, unless a grand institution were founded, in which facilities were given of combining practice with theory, so that the student might pursue the one in direct association with the other, a scheme of such a character would best answer its purposes, i :made to embrace a series of local establishments, acting under and in concert with one central Institution, constituting in the whole a National College or m 2 APPENDIX A. 164 University of Arts and Industry, empowered to grant certifi- cates or diplomas to students of proficiency and merit. Hull Your Memorialists perceive that, unless a system of industrial education is extended to this country, so as to enable our manu- facturers to apply increased science and skill to their manufac- tures, England cannot keep her position in the great industrial competition of all nations; a competition, which has for its effect the increase in value of skill and intelligence, as applied to the manufacture of that raw material, which, by the facilities of transport, is becoming decreased in price. Your Memorialists see, therefore, to themselves a great advantage in giving to ma- nufacturers the means of acquiring a scientific knowledge of the principles of their industries, so that they may apply them with the best advantage to their respective wants. Your Memorialists would therefore impress upon your Honourable Board the necessity of establishing a central Col- lege of Arts and Manufactures, in connection with provincial schools, having the same object in view. They have full re- liance that the great practical skill and aptitude of application which is a marking feature of the character of our countrymen, will enable our manufacturers to use the knowledge which they will thus have an opportunity of acquiring for the best purposes of industry. Your Memorialists would like to see, in connection with the Central Educational Institution, means for special international Exhibitions ; as, for example, of silks in one part, pottery in another, and so on : and they believe that these might be made a source of profit which could be used in the extension of the scheme of industrial education. Oldham . Your Memorialists regret that there does not exist in this country any national institution devoted to instruction on a similar basis to the schools of Arts and Manufactures established in France and Belgium, which, by imparting to their students the knowledge of the principles on which all improvements must be founded, have contributed so largely to the development of manufacturing skill. APPENDIX A. 165 Your Memorialists would, therefore, solicit your Honourable Board to take into consideration, in the disposal of the surplus fund which may remain in your hands, the immediate advan- tage which would be likely to accrue to the manufacturers of this country by the establishment of a Central College of Arts and Manufactures in connection with provincial schools for the same object, which should include the existing Schools of Design. This institution to be empowered to make examina- tions and grant certificates to the more advanced students, and to promote, by these and similar means, the cultivation of in- creased knowledge in application of science to practical pursuits, which could not fail to exercise a beneficial influence on indus- trial progress. Sheffield. Your Memorialists fully recognise that the improvements in locomotion and in the applications of science are gradually ren- dering available to all countries the raw materials which formerly were the privilege of a few, and that in consequence, while the value of the raw material is becoming reduced as an element in manufacture, the value of skill and intelligence to its preparation as another element is constantly increasing. Your Memorialists observe that other countries, less favoured with fuel and raw materials than our own, have recognised this fact as a principle of state, and have established Schools of Manufacture, including Schools of Design, not only at their capitals, but also throughout their provincial towns. Your Memorialists recognise in such institutions a wise in- tention on the part of foreign governments to develop manu- factures, by applying increased science, skill, and intelligence to their cultivation. They feel that in the increasing competition of the world it is necessary to join education to practice, and although they do not think that a practical education in indus- trial science can ever of itself make manufacturers, they are fully convinced that when the scientific principles of manu- factures are more thoroughly understood by practical men, they will better be able to apply them with advantage in their re- spective industries, and to promote economy and improvements in manufacturing processes. Your Memorialists have observed that Government has con- sidered it desirable to establish a Government School of Mines, M 3 166 APPENDIX A. in connection with the Museum of Practical Geology, and they perceive in this a recognition on the part of the State of the want of practical education to a large branch of industry. But your Memorialists in vain look for a college devoted to the industrial pursuits which they themselves follow, or to those important textile manufactures carried on by the neighbouring manufacturing towns. They consider that if these branch institutions and the Central College were united into one university of arts and manufactures, empowered to make examinations and grant cer- tificates to those who showed sufficient knowledge, an impulse and position would be given to manufacturing science, which could not fail to be of benefit to the progress of industry. Staffordshire Potteries. Your Memorialists are confidently of opinion, that a more extended and practical system of scientific education is necessary in this country, — a system which should offer on readily avail- able terms to the industrial classes of England a much higher standard of productive acquirements than they now possess, and that ample facilities for a sound elementary education, in in- timate connection with, and accompanied by, practical illus- trations, alone are wanting to develop in our artists and artizans as large an amount of genius and talent as is evidenced in the best productions of the great continental emporiums, and also that such a development would greatly tend to the increase of our manufactures and commerce. They would therefore recommend that a central college of art and manufacture be established in London, and a museum connected with it. That provincial schools should be estab- lished, and conducted on similar principles to the metropolitan institution, and receive a proportion of its advantages, and that where such provincial schools or colleges may be established, the provincial authorities shall have prominent consideration in their control and management. It is a remarkable fact, when the personal wealth and com- mercial status of English manufactures are considered, to find that the districts in which the most important branches of their operations are carried on are utterly without any fine examples available for general reference of the active capability and latent resources which the manufactures themselves possess, and APPENDIX B. 167 of the degree of excellence to which superior skill and intel- ligence have already raised their productions. G r eat successes are occasionally heard and read of, which excite either the marvel or incredulity of those engaged in the branches of labour to which they refer ; but the opportunities of seeing, studying, and appreciating such results, and, by continued ex- amination, so thoroughly mastering the working of the pro- cesses by which their excellence has been achieved, as to be able to apply the lesson, if not with equal, at least in reference to past efforts, with improved, skill, are few and far between ; while to be effectual and permanent they should be ample and con- tinuous. It will be deplored if, after the costly and laborious accumu- lation of the most valuable products of the aggregate skill and industry of the present age, resulting from the combined energies of the whole world, its exhibition should end in the excitement of a show, instead of the experience of a school becoming a transient gratification instead of a permanent advantage, and, unless some further steps be taken to render that a feeling which is now but an impulse, the ultimate benefits so trustingly looked for will, it is to be feared, be sadly curtailed. APPENDIX B., Page 51. Subjects which ought to be known in various Trades. The following are answers in reply to inquiries as to the kind of instruction which ought to be given in Mechanics’ Insti- tutions to those following various trades. All the writers are men, not only of great intelligence, but of great practical expe- rience in the various occupations to which they refer. 1. Engineers , &fc. The knowledge most required by them is thus stated by a Liverpool engineer : — “ Mathematics, cube and square roots (to find the strength of rods and shafts) ; mensuration (to find the weights of machinery) ; practical geometry, power of levers, mechanical drawing.” 168 APPENDIX 13. In a large foundry near Manchester, one of the workmen recommends the study of the various kinds of motions, of geome- try, in fact ; and recommends as books, “ Grier’s Calculator and Dictionary,” “ Hibbert’s Cyclopedia, ” “ Lardner’s Steam En- gine,” and the Mechanics’ and Engineers’ Magazines of London and Glasgow. The foreman of the smiths in this foundry says, “ There is but one way to make a smith, — by practice at the fire, and nothing else is required.” In the same establishment I was in- formed “the greater part of the workmen have not received any assistance whatever from books, or from any subject of study pursued out of the shop ; indeed, it is notorious that some of our most skilled workmen are, in other respects, grossly igno- rant, to the extent in one or two instances of not being able to read or write, experience and practice alone supplying the necessary skill.” This statement shows forcibly how necessary Mechanics’ In- stitutions are, even to skilful mechanics. No one denies that natural ability and manual skill are independent of school edu- cation ; but the question is, will not the education greatly increase the ability and improve the skill ? When so much knowledge exists bearing on the labour of mechanics, why should mechanics not acquire it ? 2. Building Trades. A gentleman long practically connected with the building trades makes the following statements regarding them : — “ Joiners ought to be able to measure their work, and give an estimate of its cost ; to calculate wages, &c. This requires a knowledge of arithmetic, embracing rules up to practice and proportion, then fractions and decimals, cube and square roots. Joiners are obliged to draw out working plans from the archi- tect’s designs, and “set out” work. This requires practical geometry. I would recommend such a course as is given in ‘ Elliot’s Practical Geometry and Mensuration and this must be regarded as merely preparatory to a more extensive course, such as contained in ‘Nicholson’s Guide,’ which treats of roofing, &c. Most working joiners will admit that these things are useful , but they have yet to be convinced that these things are indispensable, and that there are others useful which they think useless. It is impossible to understand the principles of their APPENDIX C. 169 work without a knowledge of theoretical geometry (Euclid). Ornamental drawing and perspective would be useful in en- abling men to sketch out plans and designs of their own work. An outline of mechanics would be useful to all connected with the building trades. The mechanical powers, pressures, strength of materials, are useful to be known. These would be best learnt in class lectures, when illustrations, with appropriate ap- paratus, could be given. 7 / 6 ; and 1768 ... ... ... ... ... Emilius and Sophia, or a New System of Education, Vol. 1 (1783).. Russell — Schools in Great Britain ; Sketches of the Educational Systems of the Colonies and India Salmon — The Art of Teaching (1898) ... Sandford — Parochialia ; or Church, School and Parish (1865) ... (1845) School Hygiene — Second International Congress, 3 vols. School, The — Vol. 1, January-June, 1904 “School,” edited by Laurie Magnus, vol. 1, publishers binding Scott — What is Secondary Education (1899) Scottish Education Reform, by Douglas and Jones (1903) 7 s, d. 4 0 2 6 2 6 2 0 10 0 2 0 2 0 4 0 1 0 2 6 2 0 3 6 3 0 3 0 35 0 3 6 3 6 6 0 5 0 6 6 3 0 2 6 2 6 5 0 2 0 150 0 60 0 1 6 2 0 1 0 2 0 5 0 6 6 5 0 2 0 2 6 6 0 2 0 3 6 1 9 3 6 3 0 7 6 4 0 4 6 2 0 1 6 JOHN DAVIS (Successor to Thomas Laurie), 13, Paternoster Row, London. books on education. s. d. -• •- ::: Rural Schools in Central Province (1904) - Sheridan— British System o l j^ a Utile' Female Academy (1820) ::: each Intellectual Education, 1862 and 1850 • • ^p r r 1 ndvdes at o“°Frobel''s- System and Their Bearing on .he Education of Women (1876) S^th S "^m^aRomd'comparismThi England and Germany (.873) ... i^ddln^American Juvenile Reform Schools (.907) ... - - !pnL e r-Ed n u?ation -Tntilleiua^ Moral and Physical, large edition ... 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