146 
SOCIOLOGY. 
any serious and persistent class of epidemics;—contiguous to a 
geological field of exceptional interest, and to a country remarkable for 
its beautiful and varied scenery, its botanical richness, and its fertile 
agricultural produce ;—in a county rendered famous by one of the 
greatest poets that any age has ever witnessed ;—in a scene of develop¬ 
ments in mechanical science with which are associated the names of 
James Watt, Matthew Boulton, and other worthies who have laid 
the foundation of the world’s prosperity ;—in a scene of art manu¬ 
factures and industries, of beauty and utility, made everywhere 
famous by the works of Chance, and Elkington, and Gillott, and 
Hardman, and Mason, and Tangye, and Winfield, and hosts of 
others;—from the town being independent of any specific forms 
of trade such as cotton, woollen, etc., and not subject to recurrent 
panics or waves of depression arising out of or common to those 
specific forms of trade ;—from the many and varied kinds of manu¬ 
factures and trades which the town possesses, involving commer¬ 
cial relations with all parts of the globe ;—from the facilities that 
these several manufactures and trades give for acquiring independence 
of position, and with it independence of character and thought;—from 
the town being within easy access of the Metropolis, but not in 
any way overshadowed by it, and particularly from its constituting 
the centre of an elaborate plexus of railway ramification, affording 
free and rapid communication with all parts of the Kingdom, and as 
a consequence bringing with it a varied and abundant food supply (d ); 
—from its local water supply being both wholesome and plentiful;— 
from frequent immigration from other and distant localities;— 
from the town being undemoralised by antiquities or obsolete 
charities ;—from the number, variety, and excellence of its 
educational, scientific, and literary institutions (e) ;—from the 
perfect freedom which all religious communities possess, and the 
vitality displayed by them ;—from the active and energetic political 
and civic life which has always characterised its citizens ;—from the 
remarkable development in almost every direction which the town lias 
towns for the nine years from 1872 to 1881, both inclusive, as under:—London, 
22'56; Liverpool, 27'77; Birmingham, 23'48; Manchester, 28'07; Leeds, 24‘34; 
Sheffield, 23‘57; Salford, 27’37 ; Newcastle, 24‘64; Norwich, 22‘57. Mean of twenty 
large towns for the same period, 2372. 
<d.) A single illustration will suffice. Before the railway system was 
inaugurated, fish, as an article of diet, must have been (except to the wealthy) 
comparatively rare in Birmingham. Now, from its central position, the town 
has one of the most abundantly and variedly-supplied fish markets in the 
kingdom. 
{e.) The Birmingham and Midland Institute was established in the year 1864, 
since which period upwards of 40,0(X) students have attended its Scientific, 
Literary, and Educational Classes, exclusive of the attendance at the Weekly 
Lectures in Session. The Mason Science College, which was founded by the 
generosity of the late Sir .Josiah Mason so recently as the year 1880, has now 
(1883) more than 300 students. Both these institutions are open to male and 
female students. 
