98 OBSERVATIONS ON THE DIFFUSION OF 



intellectual cultivation, more united in one individual than in him ; 

 and it will be long, indeed, before his loss will cease to be felt by us. 



The operations of the Institution were conducted on a limited 

 scale at its commencement. A small room in an obscure part of 

 the town, served for the assemblage of its members and the delivery 

 of lectures. By degrees, however, it has assumed a more imposing 

 aspect; and we now find ourselves in a comfortable little theatre, 

 and in possession of some good apparatus for experimental Philoso- 

 phy, and of a collection of geological specimens, which has already 

 swelled beyond the limits of the only room which can be devoted to 

 its reception. 



Since its establishment, lectures have been delivered to its mem- 

 bers by Drs. Dalton and Thompson, and Mr. Richard Phillips, on 

 Chemistry ; by Sir James E. Smith, on Botany ; by Messrs. Web- 

 ster and John Pbillips, on Geology ; by Mr. Campbell, on Poetry ; 

 by Mr. Taylor, on Music ; by Mr. Scoresby, on Magnetism ; by 

 Mr. Addams, on various subjects ; and by many other public lectur- 

 ers. Lectures have also constantly been delivered by the Fellows 

 of the Society, amongst which I may mention those by Mr. John 

 Corrie, Dr. De Lys, and Mr. Baddams. Those of your president 

 are said to have possessed the rare merit of simplicity, even when 

 their subjects were such as are generally considered abstruse, evinc- 

 ing the results of a brilliant imagination and a powerful mind, and 

 conveying both pleasure and instruction to his audience. 



There are two circumstances connected with the lectures deliver- 

 ed before this Institution which demand especial notice. I am in- 

 formed that the Society of Arts arose out of a very clever and beau- 

 tiful lecture on Design, written by Mr. Richard Lawrence, a Vete- 

 rinary Surgeon, and read before the members of this Institution by 

 Dr. Bright. But this is not all. Twenty-five years ago, the spot 

 on which I now stand was occupied by one in whom strong powers 

 of mind and acuteness of perception were joined to great benevo- 

 lence of heart. He pointed out in forcible language the forlorn and 

 hopeless condition of those unfortunate persons who, " although en- 

 dowed with the same powers, feelings, and privileges as ourselves," 

 had been deprived of the faculty of hearing, and consequently of 

 speech, and " were thus excluded from their natural share in hu- 

 man rights, and degraded in some sort from their rank as human 

 beings." He showed how they might be rescued from this forlorn 

 condition, so " that the same sources of knowledge, and the same 

 books from which we receive instruction, might be open to them, 

 whether for the exercise of their mental powers, for inculcating the 



