The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1867.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 34, 11 February 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1867.

It appears from the annual report of the Committee of the Nelson Institute, that whilst the Institute is slowly advancing, it is not in so efficient a state as it ought to be, considering the number and means of the population of the town. Some additions have been made to the funds from extraneous sources, by which the library the principal feature in the Institute has been considerably benefitted. Some good ought to be done to the community by a library of more than 2000 books, which are taken out, we understand, at the rate of about 50 per day. There is the nucleus of a very good Museum, which fails to be a potent means of instruction, from the absence of the classification and labelling of the specimens, a want which is, however, promised to be supplied at no very distant date. It seems doubtful whether the reading room ought to be encroached upon for the purposes of the Museum, and whether the Committee are acting wisely in letting so many of the rooms, in order to secure the income from that source. Whilst the Institute is vastly improved in comparison with its state some two years ago, it is evident, as the report states, that it fails to answer the purpose for which it is supposed to exist. No lectures are delivered, the members take very little interest in its affairs, and the Institute says the report, has little more than the name, instead of being the reality it ought to be. It is needless to remark that no improvement can be hoped for unless the members exert themselves more than they have been accustomed to do of late ; and that active co-operation in an enlightened spirit, and an infusion of new life are needed to adapt the Institute, as a powerful means of instruction and amusement, to the growing wants of the commuuity. We take it, that the Institute, to be really efficient, should be made to supplement the education imparted in the public schools. It is complained by high authorities, that the short time speDt in these schools by the majority of the children who attend them, prevents them from receiving more than very meagre elementary instruction. To supply this deficiency, the Institute ought to be looked to ; and there is no doubt that were the means supplied by the public, it might be made to complete the education of a great number of youths whose necessities compel them <o leave school when only partially instructed. To this end, lectures must be delivered by competent persons, and classes formed to train the pupils in the arts and sciences of which they may have acquired at school, a knowledge of the elements or outlines. With such a number of young people as we see growing up whose education has been of the most superficial kind, it would be most satisfactory to be able to point them to an Institute where they could be further instructed in all those branches of learning, which are supposed to be indispensable to fit them to fill a respectable position in society. If the community are so disposed, they can readily find the means of enabling the Committee to establish classes in which a knowledge of music drawing, language, mathematics, and a fair sprinkling of the physical sciences, might be imparted to the younger portion of the community who are growing up around us. Lectures, too, are admirable means of illustrating various kinds of knowledge; and it is not a little remarkable, that in a town containing so many persons com-, petent to giee viva vocs instruction, it is

never heard that the Institute is made use of for so interesting and laudable a purpose. We shall be told perhaps, that in a small community, minutely subdivided into numerous sects and parties, it will not be easy to bring about the union and co-ope-ration needed to place the Institute upon an efficient footing. It strikes us that were the effort made, the difficulty will be found to exist more in imagination than in reality. Few will be found to deny the importance of having a highly efficient Institution in the community, based on the neutral ground of literature and science, extending its advantages to all irrespective of the religious aud political peculiarities which are inseparable from any state of English society. Were half a score of well-educated and liberal minded men to resolve to make the Institute what it ought to be, the thing would be done at once. What the Institute wants is numbers and funds, and one would soon bring the other. If two or three hundred persons, many of whom now find time hang heavily upon their hands, who would be glad to supply the deficiency of an incomplete education, and to feed the mind from sources of pleasure unattended by sorrow or regret, were to come forward and co-operate with the management, the means would be furnished and the motive supplied for building a noble superstructure on the present foundation which affords little satisfaction in consequence of its narrow and unfinished state. We can see no reason why, the Institute should not become really popular, by supplying the means of education and amusement to a large class of young people. To become so, however, it is necessary that the accomplishment of the object be set about in the right way. A few influential leaders in a matter of such general interest would soon find themselves followed by the multitude, and success would be ensured.