mechanics' institutions. 337 



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 ca7i 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, eluci- 

 datory 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 orily; — they are not, — properly considered, — 

 the principal — the most valuable portions of Mechanics' Institu- 

 tions. 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 know- 

 ledge, 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 in- 

 struction 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 \\\e pounds, shillings, and pence acceptation 

 of the term. 



