flatter the working classes-call them "intelligent artizans," and other pleasant denominations, and would give them a certain share of abstract information to amuse their leisure hours. But again-there are some who boldly say that wherever faculties exist, they may be safely cultivated;—and who fear not that the great social system will suffer damage, even should the gradual destruction of castes be the consequence of such cultivation. Observing the nascent desire of improvement, they see no evil, and apprehend no danger from its increase, and would urge it forward as the probable means of extensively communicating general happiness; interposing their assistance as guides, not standing in the way as checks. They would lay down rail-ways -not hang on drags. They unhesitatingly declare, with the enlightened and liberal Chandos Leigh, whose words I have in another place already quoted,* "The people cannot easily know too much; they may easily know too little." Too little for the best interests of well-conducted society. "I wish," said King George the Third, some five-and-thirty years ago and the saying was a remarkable and a bold one, as coming at that period from an individual holding a station so little advantageous for the cultivation of liberal views-"I wish that every poor person in my dominions may be enabled to read his bible." The wish, emanating from such a quarter, could not be gainsaid or directly opposed, and Lancasterian Schools and National Schools were established. Very many would probably have excused the King, had he been less liberal, but the word had gone forth; and it was unperceived that reading alone would not satisfy. The determination of the people to acquire more than elementary knowledge afterwards induced Lord Brougham to advocate the foundation of Mechanics' Institutions. He brought into free and specific action the desire that was kindled. He encouraged the people to infuse mind and intelligence into what was before almost a mechanical operation. To read,-to write to cast accounts-though too much by two thirds for many quietistic politicians, was far too little for the excited wishes of those who were becoming aware of their mental powers, and the class studies of Mechanics' Institutions took a more extended and academic form, and are now conducted in a mode that time for time-is equal to any thing than can be provided for the youth of any station. Nor are the gates of science less freely opened, in the lectures that are delivered; nor is their circuit bounded by any narrow or selfish considerations. Who expects that a course of lectures on Astronomy, on Geology, on Acoustics, or Electro-Magnetism, will cause a man to become a more skilful workman at the stamp or the lathe— more useful as a clerk or a packer? I am not content that our ingenious population should be taught mechanics and chemistry See the Report of the Mechanic's Institution inserted in our last number. simply because these pursuits have relation, real or imagined, to their occupation as workmen ;-I would have them instructed in the sciences in general,-as human beings,-and because, being by nature capable of comprehending the properties of mind and of matter, these properties ought to be rendered familiar to them— or else their powers of comprehension are in so far wasted or degraded, by being confined to inferior objects. But some kind friends of the industrious classes are fain to mourn over the havoc which will be made in their comforts, by the attainment of such a stock of general information as I have alluded to. The fate of smatterers is in their mouths, and they are apt to quote the lines of Pope as oracular and decisive"A little learning is a dangerous thing, Drink deep-or taste not the Pierian spring." Now this maxim taken without limitation is a fallacy. There is no danger in having a little, if your opportunities do not permit you to get all you would. What should we say to the working man, who, entering his house at dinner time, and seeing the uncostly dish of potatoes and the modicum of bacon, which his frugal wife, with an eye to the fare of the morrow, had provided should overturn the table, scatter the provisions, and trampling them under foot, express himself thus in heroic vein— "The spare repast I hate-be these my wishes, Fat beeves or famine-feasts or empty dishes!" or what kind of counsellor should we hold him to be, who, addressing a knot of persons waiting the opening of the doors of a Savings Bank to deposit their small sums, should mock their care and rebuke them thus "Your little dabs of cash are useless things, No paltry thrifts!—be beggars—or be kings!” The first of these instances would be pronounced an absolute fool or madman;—and the second could only claim the possession of his wits by avowing his selfish treachery;-that, wealthy himself, he could not bear that the lower classes should take any well-concerted measures gradually to accumulate for themselves a moderate share of wealth. Suspect, then, the judgment or the intentions of those who talk with horror of smatterers-who indulge their small fancies in tirades against royal roads to learning, and railways to science. There is an aristocracy of intellect as well as of birth or of purse, and those who have by weary inches delved their way into the mine, are proud of their success;-and perhaps, vain of the pains they have taken, they are unwilling that others, by any less laborious process, should reach the precious deposit. "The evil," as the president of the Birmingham Philosophical Institution well said in one of his instructive lectures-"the evil consists, not in knowing a little, but in fancying that we know June, 1835.-VOL. II. NO. XI. 2 x much;”—and this kind of fancy, this conceit, will be less and less prevalent as knowledge becomes more generally diffused. The advance of science is rapidly bringing on a state of things which our Mechanics' Institutions are preparing to meet without hazarding the derangement of society. The Rev. James Martineau, at the last annual meeting of the Liverpool Institution, used these remarkable words "Machinery is rapidly supplanting human labour, and rendering mere muscular force a worthless drug. That natural machine, the human body, is depreciated in the market. But if the body have lost its value, the mind must get into business without delay. The intelligence of man must be brought to the mint and coined, and set in instant circulation." I like to hear such sentiments-far better are they than the advice of the speaker's clever sister, and of a whole clan of political economists to reduce our working population, in order to secure employment to those that remain. The complainers, the wellinformed people of the old school, may perhaps beset Mr. Martineau, and rejoin-"But what are we to do, if the dominion of heads be invaded by the desertion of whole legions from the realm of hands?" And if the question were put to me, I should answer" That is not the affair of the population of hands.” I only feel quite sure that a really well-informed people--a people universally educated, would not long continue to suffer the strange anomalies which now prevail in our social system; and the way to prepare for such change rationally, is to equalize, as far as possible, the advantages of education-to abolish all feelings and prejudices of class or caste-and to encourage all to consider themselves as HUMAN BEINGS. When the steam engine was perfected, half the external distinctions of rank vanished;-the new power rendering manufactured articles more accessible. But the effects of scientific advancement will not be branded by the cheapening of silks, calicoes, and hardwares. There is an intellectual machinery, a mental steam power at work, and still rising in its action, which renders education proportionally as cheap and as attainable to the man of small means, as his clothing and his domestic appointments. There is a science which, in spite of the sneers of its opponents, -in spite, too, of the extravagance of its supporters, is slowly and gradually winning its way into general respect and estimation. I allude to the science of phrenology. The poet sings "Full many a gem of purest ray serene The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear ;- GRAY. This may be of little consequence in reference to such things as corals and cowslips-pearls and polyanthuses; but it is another affair when applied to human beings. It is there an error, not an accident; there ought to be no sentence of " Their lot forbade," interposed between the capacity of man and its full development. Dr. Eppo, whose name I was glad to read as a lecturer on Phrenology at the Liverpool Mechanic's Institution, and who addresses large audiences in London, scruples not to declare— "It is a truth which our science demonstrates, that society never was and never can be in any other state than an agitated one, until every human being have every opportunity of exercising every faculty which God has given him." A Mechanic's Institution, vigorously conducted, becomes a school of Phrenology. Let all, then, become practical professors of the science, and lend their aid to the complete exercise of the powers of the mind. [Here follow various statements relative to the progress and prospects of the Birmingham Institution, which the extracts from the "Report" in our last number render it unnecessary to detail. Allusion is also made to the character of the lectures that have been delivered during the last year, which induces the following observations on the different branches of the institution.] I need not repeat and re-urge the advantages derivable from attending lectures. They give the first flash-the clear, elucidatory insight into principles and facts. They often impress the mind with a valuable series of general ideas, which form the scaffolding by which the edifice, by after efforts, is erected. But they are not the only;-they are not,-properly considered,the principal-the most valuable portions of Mechanics' Institutions. It is the classes and the library—the unobtrusive-the unglittering portions-which form the really-the profoundly beneficial characteristics of such institutions. Lectures carry us on by leaps, and leave in the field of knowledge, here and there, a mark where we have reaped. It is by regular continued studies-by sedulous application only, that the intermediate spaces can be cleared. These alone qualify us to rejoice in the abundant harvest. These alone will place us on the stubble land-triumphantly exclaiming "The produce of this field is mine-is mine. It is reaped; it is gathered; it is housed for my after use." On glancing over the Report of the Liverpool Institution, I perceive modifications of classes for the study of chemistry, mineralogy, political economy, and natural history-by mutual instruction. At Manchester they have a class for music. The wise Government of Prussia in its arrangements for public instruction makes music a matter of high importance. It is well. Nothing tends more to refine the mind and to give amenity to the manners than the cultivated perception of the harmony of sounds, and yet this pleasing study is not one which claims attention, as useful, in the pounds, shillings, and pence acceptation of the term. The lecturer here enters, at considerable length, into details connected with the finances and conduct of the institution, and remarks in conclusion-" Charity," says the Apostle-that isChristian fellowship-brotherly kindness-the benevolent, wellregulated mind "thinketh no evil"-"envieth not"-it "seeketh not its own"-that is, its improper aggrandizement, but it is added that it "rejoiceth in the truth." That is, its energies must be kept awake to the perception of what is right and good, and these ends must be pursued with alacrity. Be such our confiding such our active, discerning charity, and this institution will soon take a different rank in the town from that which it has hitherto held. Sunday Schools, Lancasterian, and National Schools-Temperance Societies-Provident Societies, in all their widest operations, should be considered but as inductions, auxiliaries, adjuncts, to Mechanics' Institutions. It is ours to apply to their best and final uses, the advantages gained by these excellent subsidiaries. "Above all thy getting," says the wise king of Israel, "get understanding." This great acquisition is to be made, especially, HERE. It is HERE; it is in Mechanics' Institutions that we shall best learn our own power and the mode of wisely using it. If a change for the better is needed in our social relations-as writers of all creeds and all opinions intimate —it is here the nature of that change shall be best comprehended. It is where knowledge holds her seat that the change shall be contemplated with the steadiest eye-that the most determined voice shall utter" it is coming." While the joyous chorus shall be re-echoed by all the worthy-all the discerning-all the benevolent " It must come—and let it come.” FINE ARTS. WHILE copious and earnest commentaries are bestowed upon music, poetry, and the drama, it is still to be lamented that the pen of the reviewer too often skims, like the rapid wing of the swallow, over the subject of painting and sculpture. A few hurried lines, frequently most cruelly seasoned with the hot spice of critical sarcasm-a mere word or two of general praise or censure—a running nod of recognition—a sneer or a smile en passant are, for the most part, all that are conceded to the toils of the artist-to hours wasted by the midnight lamp, and to days passed from the early dawn to the dim twilight in the solitary pursuit of science. In vain the genius of historical painting put forth its magnificent conceptions, and the deathless creations of the chisel appeal by their impassioned beauty and grandeur to the eye and the brain of the reviewer; the briefest note in the tablet of ivory, and the narrowest space in the page are, even reluctantly, doled out to their claims. Yet what lengthy and numerous columns are lavished upon "the very last novel”—the jejune production of the silver-fork school-the melancholy |