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X ORE WORKING MEN'S INSTITUTE.

This new society was formally opened on Tuesday se'nnight, and so far was a decided success. There was a good attendance, and the greatest enthusiasm was evinced by all present for the objects of the society. The Rev. W. J. Turner, on taking the chair as President, expressed the pleasure he felt in aiding this and any other cause which he thought was for the good of the parish.

The Rev. E. Hensley expressed his satisfaction being present at the opening of the reading room before leaving the parish.

Dr. Hunt delivered the first address. He said that the opening of a Working Men's Institute was one of the most pleasing ceremonies which the progress of civilisation had brought about. He thought it very satisfactory that chess and draughts were to be permitted in the reading room. Dr. Hunt then entered into the cause of the failure of many institutions of a similar nature, and mentioned the points which are most to be guarded Against. He then impressed upon the working men the pleasure that the study of literature and science afforded, if they were only approached in a proper manner. Nothing, he said, made a man so truly humble as the study of science; and instanced Newton, Bacon, and Rag. In conclusion, Dr. Hunt said that we ought not to study to make us appear better before the world, but to exalt our own aspirations, and to elevate and purify our characters.

Mr. Tate next addressed the meeting, and in a most lucid speech dilated on the practical advantages which all mechanics derived from study, and illustrated the motto “knowledge is power,” even to the meanest mechanical pursuits. Mr. Tate then gave some of his own early personal experience, and spoke with great feeling of the effect which “Euclid” produced on himself in early life, and its influence on his after career.

Mr. C. L. Dodgson (of Christ Church, Oxford) made a few practical remarks on the best use to be made of the opportunities of reading now set before his hearers. After explaining the superiority of intellectual over mere physical enjoyment, he said that, as it was necessary to the enjoyment of a feast to create an appetite for it, so was it requisite before beginning to read a book to excite a genuine interest and curiosity for the subject in hand, and not to read merely as a duty or task. He continued the simile throughout the subject in an able manner, warning his hearers against reading either too much or in a desultory manner. He made an amusing comparison between a reader who begins a dozen books at a time, and a thirsty person who proposes to quench his thirst by drinking a spoonful of oil, a spoonful of gin, a spoonful of vinegar, a spoonful of water, and a spoonful of blacking. He concluded by commenting on the great benefits arising from the cultivation of the intellectual faculties, and he exhorted his hearers to encourage this taste by every means in their power, remembering that every one is accountable to one Heavenly Father for the talent committed to him.

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The Rev. Mr. Fawcett said that he cordially agreed with Mr. Tate's sentiments, and saw no reason why members of this institute might not rise to the highest position of eminence. He cited an instance of one man who had similarly risen—the late Sir Peter Fairbairn, of Leeds—who once occupied the humble position of an operative in a factory; and also another instance, which came under his notice, of a distinguished Fellow of the University of Oxford whom he had once known in the position of a shoeblack. Mr. Fawcett concluded by giving some excellent advice to the members of the New Reading Room as to their choice of books and method of reading.

A vote of thanks was then passed to the Rev. E. Hensley for the interest and trouble he had taken in the formation of the society; to R. Hunter, Esq., for the gift of a house to the society for two years; to Mr. Thompson, for his zeal as honorary secretary; to J. Rock, Esq., for a donation of books; and to the Chairman. The society already numbers between 50 and 60 members, and the library already contains 650 volumes. Altogether, there is every evidence of the Ore Working Men's Institute having entered upon a successful, and, we trust, a long career of usefulness. X