134 



ON LOCAL AIDS FOR PROMOTING THE 



CULTURE OF ART, SCIENCE, AND 



LITERATURE. 



By the REV. JOHN STROYAN. December 8th, 1874. 



The aim of this paper is not so much to impart information 

 as to excite enqniry, in the hope of its issuing in some practical 

 result. Man has an intellectual nature which requires to be 

 cultivated, if lie is to rise to the higher life of which he is capable. 

 Before the members and patrons of a Literary and Scientific 

 Club, it is unnecessary to dwell on the desirableness of pro\'iding 

 for this culture. The only question for us to consider is how it 

 can best be promoted. Our attention this evening is directed to 

 local aids in furtherance of this object. Can anything be done 

 to increase their number or improve their efficiency ? "Without 

 undervaluing, in the sUghtest degree, other local institutions that 

 have previously been in existence, which have done and are still 

 doing service in promoting the mental culture of the community, 

 I am disposed to rank first in importance our own Literary and 

 Scientific Club. For the last twenty years, I know of no Institu- 

 tion or Society in our midst that has given so general and power- 

 ful a stimulus to intellectual pursuits. One proof of its efficiency 

 hitherto is that it has already revealed to us larger wants and 

 new desires. Our soirees have brought to light an unsuspected 

 amount of wealth in objects illustrative of Science and Litera- 

 ture, in the possession of private individuals. The limits of a 

 single evening in the year are too short to admit of much benefit 

 being derived from their inspection. We need a local museum 

 that should be frequently accessible to the members and also to 

 the public. I never visit the museums in Manchester, Liverpool, 

 Edinburgh, and London, without a feeling of regret that we have 

 not something similar, though on a smaller scale, in our own 

 town. Museums are of benefit chiefly to those who can frequently 

 inspect them. My idea is that every town of any size, say of 

 more than 20,000 inhabitants, should have some public building 

 in which might be gathered samples of objects specially charac- 

 terizing the locality. We have geologists who would gladly 

 furnish samples of the rocks in our district, and botanists who 

 would supply dried specimens of the plants. Manufacturers 

 would furnish illustrations of our local industry. A museum 

 almost necessitates a library. There is no greater auxiliary to a 

 literary and scientific culture than easy access to an excellent 

 hbrary. Is it too much to expect that Burnley may soon have a 

 museum and a library supported out of the rates, and open to 



