152 PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES. 



attention of their hearers ; a deficiency arising, in a great measure, 

 from the almost total neglect of the study of elocution, at our public 

 and private seminaries. The discussing, therefore, the merits of 

 papers and essays, which is one of the principal objects of this so- 

 ciety, will tend to conquer that nervous timidity which is the great 

 obstacle in the way of an effective oral delivery, and will, no doubt> 

 prove highly beneficial to the members of this Institution. 



The worthy vice-president then proposed " The Question" for dis- 

 cussion at the next meeting : — 



" Is the wealth of nations and the happiness of man, best }»romoted by the 

 division of labour and singleness of purpose ? — or by complicated employ- 

 ment and variety of pursuit ?" 



As our limited space will not allow us to give even an outline of 

 the arguments advanced on each side of " The Question" by Dr. 

 Jeffreys, we must reluctantly confine ourselves to the following 

 short extract : — 



" The mind of man is not only very elastic, but possessed of an expan- 

 sive power, often unsuspected and unknown to the world, his associates, 

 or even to himself, until it is called into action by either accident or de- 

 sign ; and these powers may, and often do lie dormant during his whole 

 life's existence, unless roused by some one particular stimulus or excite- 

 ment. Physiologists well know that every organ of the body requires its 

 own particular stimulus to call it into action; as, for instance, the food to 

 excite the digestive power of the stomach, the atmospheric air for respira- 

 tion, and even vitality itself for the circulation of the blood. Consequent- 

 ly, it cannot be very difficult to imagine that each separate cerebral organ 

 will remain quiescent until its particular stimulus is applied for its action. 

 The same general law of nature is applicable to the vegetable, as I have 

 been hinting at existing in the animal kingdom ; for as in the instance of 

 heat being the stimulus requisite to rouse into life the chick in the egg, for 

 preserving the progeny of birds and some reptiles ; so if the seed of corn 



or other vegetables be placed in the earth so low — perhaps one foot deep 



where the heat of the sun's rays cannot penetrate, the seed will be pre- 

 served, but remain dormant for years for want of its proper stimulant ; 

 but the instant you raise the seed so near the surface of the earth as to 

 allow the sun's rays to act upon it, the natural stimulus of heat soon 

 causes the germ to burst the bounds of its confined husk, and prepares the 

 stem to grow and to fructify." 



MANCHESTER MECHANICS' INSTITUTION. 



A STATEMENT of the proceedings of this Institution was made in 

 the month of July last, in the Theatre of the Manchester Mecha- 

 nics' Institution, clear and satisfactory in every particular, and most 

 encouraging to those populous towns which have not yet proceeded 



