YORKSHIRE UNION OF MECHANICS' INSTITUTES. [From the Watchman, June 18.]

New Zealander, Volume 7, Issue 586, 26 November 1851, Page 3

YORKSHIRE UNION OF MECHANICS' INSTITUTES. [From the Watchman, June 18.]

Tun term "Mechanics' Institutes," if it is not a misnomer, expresses what has hitherto been the aim of the patrons of such institutions rather than the fact reahbcd in iheir membeis. A Mechanic's Institute is an association of persons for the put poses of cheap education, of mutual improvement, and of hteiary leoreation. Tt is the club, the news-ioom, the lecture-room, — fur. nulicd in some instances with scientific apparatus, — the

Athen&um, muse'un, and sometime* the concei t-room of the )ouns* members of middle-class families, wbo seek to gain instruction without absorbing- efloit, and to l>e amused without encountering the piesence of vice. The Mechanics' Institute pnrlly depends upon, and in leturn furthers and justifies, tlie eaily closing co-opera-tion. It has saved the cha-acter of many an apprenticed youth, lemoved from the parental leslraints, by supeiseding the billiaid-room, theatre, and casino. J3y the substitution for these of its libraries, reading-rooms, and, above all, — in the opinion of its President, Mr. E. J3.unes — of the evening 1 clashes, a vast number of joung men are tiained up in habits which tend to preserve them vutuous, and to make them successful. Thus its negative and its positive advantages appear almost equal. That these advantages have not been geneially shiied by the labouring 'classes, is accounted for, partly, because they have less noed, le«s taste, and, in the present slate of society, less possibility of enjoying them. They piomise, however, to cieate u taste, to impress a want, and even to modify the relations of labour. The impulse every year spreads out into a wider circumference, like the undulation-9 upon a lake ; and fain ks, at the same time, to a profounder depth, like the stone winch pvoductd the voitex. The rppiesentatives of about a. do/en of those institutions met rather more than thp same number of 3 ears ago, to tale counsel for increasing their efficiency and extending" their number. This was the commencement of the sjrent Yoiltshire Union ol Mechanics' Institutions which, at its fourteenth annual meeting- last week, held at Leeds, numbered seventy or eighty representatives amving fiom almost every large town, not only in the West Hiding, but the whole of Yoikbbiie, .and in its Report embraced 117 institutes, with neaily 20,000 members. The advantages of such a union are obvious; and any disadvantages can scaicely be apprehended where all the local management is free, and central dictation neither needs, nor does in fact, exust. The Repoitof the Committee included a table, not complete, because a few of the local managers had neglected to send in lull returns; but of considerable value in its approximate form • —

The number of female membei3, it will be observed, is only an eleventh of the whole ; but it must be kept in mind that a gentleman's ticket in most cases permits bun to intioduce a lady into tbe lecture-room; and that the circulation of each volume in the libraries may, at a single issup, e\tend to a w bole family. Tbe subscription for all advantages, varies fiom twoppnce to fourpence weekly, Seveial ol'lbe Mechanics' Institutions have what are called Preliminary Savings' Banks connected with them, the deposits being under tbe guarantee of the local treasurer, who pays them into the Government Savings' Banks as soon as the amount has reached .£,'lo. Those who may imagine tbe Mechanics' Institutes to bi> suitable for only considerable towns, we refer to tbe little villjge of Gisburn, which, out of a total population of 518, boasts a local association of 52 membeis, who, it appears, are dispersed by the fine we-ither of summer, but regularly collect again when tbe autumn evenings begin to lengthen. One advantage of the union of these associations has been realized in the appointment of a paid agent, who, like the Government Educational Inspectors, visits encb institution in its turn, makes tbe expeiience of tbe oldpst tbe property of the last established, and holds out those which have the inosf perfect instrumentality and organization as the types winch any that choose may copy or improve upon. Other advantages arise from tbe sense of collective importance which tends to impart local energy, and from the regular conferences which excite emulation, communicate experience, and encourage eflbit. So important is the Yorkshire Union now become, that civic and ecclesiastical dignitaries are its officers; Mr. Stephenson makes it a boast that he is a mechanic ; and tbe Earl of Carlisle, a Cabinet Minister, offers as one of its voluntary lecturers, and subsequently finds himself, as chairman at its annual meeting, surrounded by Members of Parliament, and that, but for the engagement of tbe all-absoibing Hyde Park Exhibition, the Representatives of Prussia and America would have been also among his suppoiters. The genuine enthusiasm in Yorkshire, in favour of Mechanics' Institutes, was perhaps stdl bettei marked by a donation towards a new building at Darlington, of £100, from an unknown friend. Tbe bearing of these institutions on the extension of the franchise which is promised — or, if the reader please, threatened — for next year's session, is a speculation into which we may not at present enter. To not a few individuals they are of importance, as the supplement to imperfect educational advantages. To minds moie easily satisfied, they are delightful as the fruition of such knowledge and tastes as may have been already acquired. Mr. Monckton Milnes hopes that their influence will mediato between the estranged manufacturing classes and their offended brethren, the agriculturists. Many will concur with the Dean of llipon, who relied rather upon the cordiality, charity, and kindly feeling with which these institutions seem to evoke the fellowship and good-will of all who are engaged in the work of popular education. Although better theories may be at band, yet, as to this particular means of opeiating, it is true that all parties who have been " pulling caps on the subject of education, are here left free latitude, if only disposed to dig the public mind out of the mire of popular lgnoiance.'*

A Servants' llig'its. — I was told at Boston of a gentleman in the neighbourhood, who having engaged a farm-sei vant, found Ivjui veiy satisfaciory m all respects, except that he invariably came into the house, and into his master's room, with his hat on. "John," he said to him one day, " you always keep your hat on when you come into the house." " Well, sir, haven't I a right to V '• Yes, I suppose you have." " Well, if I have a right to, whj should'nt I?" This was a poser from one maw to another, where all have equal rights. So, after a moment's reflection, he shrewdly asked, " Now John, what'll you take ; how much more wiiges will you ask to take youi hat off when you come in ?" " Well thutjj reqtmes consideration, I guess " ''Take the thing into consideration then, and tell me to-morrow moiinng." The moirow comes. " Well, John, have you considered what addition.il wages you are to have for taking your hat off?" " Well," sir, I guess it's worth a dollar a month." " It's settled tlien, John, you shall have another dollar a mouth ;" and the gentleman retained a good servant, while John's hat was always in his hand when he entered the house in futiue, — Professor Johnston's Notes in Ameiica,

ln1851. crease. De1850. crease. Total number of institutes in the Union..... Ditto of members and subscribers repot U j dj in 99 institutes 109 117 Males 16,553 Females 1,550 . 18,108) Ditto estimated from last j'ear's report for 13 institutes .... 1,185 19,293 18,516 in 109 insti19,293 in 112 insti777 Five institutes without tutes. tutes. repoits or estimates . . Income repoi ted of 96 institutes Number of volumes in libraries 0f 93 institutes for 1851 85,992 £7,97? Ditto ol 12 estimated from 1850 5,531 '82,917 in 109 insti91,520 1 m 105 insti8,609 12 neither estimated nor reported Circulation of books in 88 insitutes, returned from 1851 Number of lecturers engnged through the medium of the Union „ Circulation ol manuscupt lectures Number of paid lecturers in 41 institutes Number of unpaid lecturers in 87 institutes.. Returns for 99 institutes for— Weekly periodicals, 1851 Monthly " " Quarterly " " Newspapers tutes. 66 87 tutes. 365408 43 166 19 18 177 653 200 55 1 102 374