PROGRESS OF KNOWLEDG E—MANCH EST ER BANKSIAN SOCIETY—BRISTOL COLLEGE.
'WE have seldom derived so great pleasure from the perusal of the most elaborate compositions, as we have fri the perusal of Mr. DETROSIER'S Address on the opening of the Banksian Society at Manchester. We are often sneeringly told of the march of intellect among the lower orders of our countrymen ; and we do not deny that in some cases it is but a hobbling march that they maintain. Even then, it is a source of interesting contemn- . plation to the patriot and the moralist ; for in knowledge, any rate of ad- vance, however small, is preferable to inertion or retrogression. But in the case of the Banksian Society, illiberality will find no opportunity or place for the indulgence of its small wit. The objects of the Society are too sound, the means too appropriate, the language and argument of its most respectable member too simple, unaffected, and convincing. The Society is composed of ordinary mechanics ; and the author of the excellent Address that now lies before us is one of the class whom he addresses. Can any sight be more pleasing, than a number of such risen, amidst all the difficul- ties and depressions to which trade has been subjected, devoting a portion of their hard-earned pittance and brief leisure to the storing of their minds with a knowledge of Nature's works,—turning aside from the coarse and common pleasures of their station, and seeking for a nobler and purer 'solace of their toils in the study of "divine philosophy ?" To the ques- tion, "What is the prize which is offered as the reward of our industry ?'' Mr. De:yeoman answers—and we beg our readers to mark the beautiful humility of the answer---" By our united efforts and contributions to obtain those means of pursuing the study of the sciences which are too expensive to be individually procured by the industrious artisan." These men, poor in conventional wealth, but rich in the higher attributes of humanity, do not come together at the call of vanity nor from a thirst of fame, nor an ambi- tion of power, nor a hope of profit ; but " by gratuitous and mutual instrues tion to render eaeli other familiar with a wider range of knowledge than under comroon circumstances could he obtained." The immediate objects of study in the Banksiau Society, as its name implies, are the different de- partments of natural science,—mineralogy, geology, botany, and entomo- logy. The choice is a prudent and a commendable one. Su much of pas- sion and of prejudice mingles, and we fear will long mingle with political science, that, however important a knowledge of it may be, it will with difficulty be obtained in crowded meetings ; and even for the study of moral science the solitude of the chiset will be found in general best calculated. But Nature offers in her wonders a rich and varied and exhaustless feast of instruction and amusement to all corners ; her table of' good things is never drawn ; there only, appetite is the handmaiden of indulgence, and he Who sits longest least feels satiety. That the members of the Banksiun Society will prosecute its objects with the energy and perseverance and intelligence that have long distinguished their great and growing city, we have not tire most remote doubt. With much good-will and honest admiration of them and it, we bid them God speed !
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