266 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Tvbo were to be helped without regard : 

 to their nationahty or religion. His last 

 great benefaction is the establishment 

 and the equipment of a Science College, 

 " to provide for a thorough systematic 

 education in science with a distinctly 

 practical application to the industries 

 of the Midland district and particularly 

 to those of Birmingham (in which the 

 founder has spent the greatest portion 

 of his life), and of Kidderminster, where 

 he was born." 



Two courses of study are provided 

 for in the deed of foundation. The 

 course of regular systematic instruction 

 is to be of such a kind as shall qualify 

 students either for passing the exami- 

 nations necessary to obtain the degrees 

 of Bachelor of Science, or of Doctor of 

 Science, of the University of London ; 

 or for any profession or pursuit in which 

 scientific knowledge can be usefully ap- 

 plied. Besides this there is a course of 

 popular instruction in the practical ap- 

 plications of science which it is intend- 

 ed shall be given by means of evening 

 lectures to artisans and others who can 

 not attend the classes of regular sys- 

 tematic instruction. All departments 

 in the college are open to both sexes on 

 the same terms. The faculty consists 

 of able men carefully chosen, and the 

 institution was opened October 1st, 

 with an introductory addi-ess by Profes- 

 sor Huxley on " Science and Culture," 

 which is herewith re])rinted. 



Professor Huxley's interesting dis- 

 course was well suited to signahze the 

 occasion which called it forth ; but on 

 tlie other hand there was that in the 

 occasion which gave a telling emphasis 

 to the discussion. The Mason College 

 was put upon a new basis. It was to 

 be broadly devoted to science, and, to 

 prevent interference with this dist;inc- 

 tive and comprehensive purpose, its 

 founder excluded " theology," " party 

 politics," and " mere literature " from 

 its scheme of studies. 



In thus constituting his college. Sir 

 Josiah Mason must be regarded as rep- 



resenting a pronounced tendency of the 

 age. But the theory of education em- 

 bodied in his institution was the result 

 of extensive practical intercourse with 

 the common people, and an intimate 

 knowledge of their real wants. He was 

 not an enthusiastic scientific student, 

 run away with by a hobby, but a cool- 

 headed observer of affairs, and the bold 

 ground that he took testifies to both 

 his sagacity and his independence. The 

 founders of colleges and universities 

 are usually ambitious to enlarge their 

 schemes of study, so that "all knowl- 

 edge " may be obtainable within their 

 precincts. Sir Josiah Mason had the 

 good sense to recognize that, in all such 

 attempts, traditional and fashionable 

 studies will usurp the places of those 

 that are really far more valuable ; so 

 he determined to keep out those sub- 

 jects which would hinder instead of 

 promoting scientific proficiency. It was 

 a plucky thing to do in England, where 

 the reverence for old classical literature 

 amounts to a superstition, while ac- 

 quaintance with it is held as the sole 

 test of a liberal education. 



It w^ould probably not have made 

 much difference what educational ab- 

 surdity an old man might have perpe- 

 trated, as he was himself unlettered, and 

 his college was to be a mere vulgar, use- 

 ful knowledge dispensatory for w^orking 

 people. But when Professor Huxley 

 came forward and endorsed the wisdom 

 of the founder, and when, moreover, he 

 began to talk about a new and higher 

 type of culture, the offspring of modern 

 thought, and grounded upon science, 

 there were at once symptoms of per- 

 turbation and perplexity in the literary 

 circles. There was not, as there could 

 not be, any intelligent controversy with 

 the Professor over the positions he took ; 

 but the proprieties had been shocked, 

 and the real question was, where did 

 Huxley stand, and what could the man 

 mean ? His concessions, as the reader 

 will see, were large, but that availed lit- 

 tle, if he denied the exclusiveness of the 



