As we roll into Manchester, and mark by what successive invasions the city
has been half-surrounded by railways, it is amusing to remember the fears
which landowners expressed in 1829, and really felt, lest the new flaming and
smoking carriage-apparatus should damage the value of property which has been
more than doubled in value by the new invention.
Manchester is the greatest manufactory in the world. The cradle and
metropolis of a trade which employs a million and a half of souls, beside the
sailors, the merchants, the planters and the slaves, who grow or carry or buy
the raw material, it is the second city in the empire, and perhaps,
considered in relation to the commercial influence of Great Britain, scarcely
second. Blot out the capital, the credit, the living enterprise, the
manufacturing power of Manchester, and we have lost a century of commercial
progress. Manchester is essentially a place of work and action, carried on
by men recruited from every district where a mental grenadier of the
Manchester standard is to be found. Suffolk and Devonshire, Norfolk and
Cornwall send their quota, as well as the neighbouring manufacturing schools
of Yorkshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire. Scotchmen in great numbers, and some
Irishmen, chiefly from the north, are also at home there. We are speaking
now not of operatives, but of those who rise to be manufacturers or
merchants. The Americans are rather constant visitors than permanent
residents; but the Germans are sufficiently numerous to be able to form a
society of their own, the most agreeable in Manchester; and the commerce of
Greece is represented by a great number of houses, which are increasing in
number and importance.
Then Manchester, although only an inland canal port, trades largely and
directly, through Liverpool chiefly, to the most parts of the world,
consuming one-tenth of the whole imports of that town. The correspondence of
a first-class house for one morning would alone be a lesson in geography.
Then again, the ceaseless enterprise and enormous powers of manufacture are
supported by a constantly-improving mechanical ingenuity, which seems to
those unaccustomed to such works nothing less than miraculous: as, for
instance, some of the inventions of Mr. Whitworth and of Mr. Roberts.
But all this is hidden from the eye of a stranger; and Manchester is a dark
and dingy ledger, closely clasped, unless he comes prepared to open a good
account, or armed with letters of introduction of a more than ordinarily
pressing nature. The gentleman who was all smiles while accepting your
civilities, and energetically amusing himself on a tour of pleasure, has
scarcely time to look up from his desk to greet you when enthroned in his
counting-house. The fact is, that these Manchester men rise early, work
hard, dine at one o'clock, work again, and go home, some distance out of
town, to work or to sleep,--so they have no time for unprofitable hospitality
or civility.
We do not say this by way of idle reproach to the people of Manchester, who
follow their vocation, and do work of which we as Englishmen have reason to
be proud, but partly by way of warning to travellers who, armed with the sort
of letters that have proved passports to everything best worth seeing
throughout the rest of Europe, may expect to pass an agreeable day or two in
the cotton metropolis; and partly by way of hint to politicians who, very
fond of inveighing against the cold shade of aristocracy, would find
something worth imitating in the almost universal courtesy of modern
nobility, which is quite consistent with the extremest liberality of abstract
opinions.
Dr. Dalton, the celebrated natural philosopher, for many years a resident in
Manchester, has proved that Manchester is not so damp and rainy a place as is
generally imagined; that the mean annual fall of rain is less than that of
Lancaster, Kendal, and Dumfries. Nevertheless, it is better to expect rain,
for although the day at Liverpool, Halifax, or Sheffield may have been
brilliantly fine, the probability is that you will find the train, as it
approaches the city, gradually slipping into a heavy shower or a Scotch mist.
The walk from any of the stations is very disheartening; tall warehouses,
dingy brick houses, a ceaseless roar of carts and waggons in the main
streets, and a population of which all the better dressed march at double
quick time, with care-brent brows, and if pausing, only to exchange gruff
monosyllables and short words.
At one o'clock the factory hands are dismissed, and the masters proceed to
dinner on horseback and in all sorts of vehicles at a thundering pace. The
working-class population will be found less unhealthy and better looking than
would be expected. The costume of the women, a cap and a short sleeved
jacket fitting the waist, called a Lancashire bedgown, is decidedly
picturesque. For a quarter of an hour some streets are almost impassable,
and the movement gives the idea of a population deserting a city. An hour's
silence follows, after which the tide flows again: the footpaths are filled
with the "hands;" and the "heads," with very red faces, furiously drive their
hundred guinea nags back to business. Now this is one of the sights of
Manchester.
Again, Tuesday is the business day at the Exchange, in St. Ann's Square. The
room is one of the finest in the kingdom; the faces and the scene generally
afford much curious matter for the study of the artist and physiognomist.
Compare it with the groups of well dressed dawdlers at Leamington,
Cheltenham, Bath, with the very different style of acute intellect displayed
at a meeting of the Institute of Civil Engineers, or with the merchants of
Liverpool, part of whom also attend Manchester.
The personal appearance of the Manchester manufacturers and their customers,
as seen on 'Change, fully justifies the old saw, "Liverpool gentlemen,
Manchester men, Rochdale fellows (fellies), and Wigan chaps."
In Liverpool all are equal,--merchant deals with merchant; in Manchester the
millowner is an autocrat, restrained by customs of the trade and occasional
strikes, and he carries his rough ways into private life.
But facts show that, with all its plate and varnish, Liverpool is as inferior
to Manchester in an intellectual, as it is superior in an external point of
view.
In politics Manchester leads, and Liverpool and Lancashire unwillingly
follow,--in the education of the operative and middle classes,--in literary,
scientific, and musical associations,--in sanitary measures,--in the formation
of public parks and pleasure grounds, Manchester displays an incontestable
superiority; being more rapid, more energetic, and more liberal than her more
fashionable neighbours.
A list of a few of the institutions and public establishments will show this.
The Royal Institution in Mosley Street occupies a large building, established
for the encouragement of the Fine Arts by exhibitions of paintings and
sculptures, and the delivery of lectures.
The Philosophical Society was established in 1781, and has numbered among its
members Dr. Dalton, Dr. Henry, and Dr. Percival, and has had its Transactions
translated into French and German.
The Natural History Society has filled a museum in Peter Street with objects
of natural history, and opens it during holiday seasons to the public at a
nominal charge, when thousands of visitors, chiefly operatives, attend.
The Mechanics' Institution, founded in 1824, after surviving many
difficulties, has become one of the most flourishing and useful institutions
of the kind in the kingdom. Its chief activity is displayed in the education
of the operative members in the class-rooms. The library is large, well
selected, and in constant requisition. In one department the School of
Design is carried on, and could not be conducted in a more appropriate
building.
This School of Design, supported by the Government for the purpose of
promoting design as applied to the staple manufactures, and diffusing a
general feeling for art amongst the manufacturing community, was formerly
accommodated within the walls of the Royal Institution as a tenant, paying a
rent, strangely enough, for the use of a building which had ostensibly been
erected for promoting art and science!
It was not until 1836, that, on the recommendation of a Committee of the
House of Commons, active steps were taken to establish in England that class
of artistic instruction applied to manufactures which had been cultivated in
France ever since the time that the great Colbert was the minister of Louis
XIV.
At Manchester, some of the leading men connected with the calico-printing
trade and looms of art, established a School of Design within the Royal
Institution, where two rooms were lent rent-free; but, as soon as Government
apportioned a part of a special grant to the Manchester School, the
Committee, who were also as nearly as possible the Council of the Royal
Institution, with that appetite for public money which seems incident to men
of all nations, all classes, and all politics, voted 100 out of the 250
pounds per annum for rent. This school did nothing of a practical nature,
and consequently did not progress in public estimation. The master was a
clever artist, but not up, perhaps he would have said not down, to his work.
A School of Design at Manchester is meant, not to breed artists in high art,
but to have art applied to the trades of the city. The master was changed,
and, at the request of the local committee, the Council of the School of
Design at Somerset House sent down, in 1845, Mr. George Wallis, who had shown
his qualifications as an assistant at Somerset House and as master of the
Spitalfields school. At that time the Manchester school had been in
existence five years, and had done nothing toward its original object. In
two years from the time of Mr. Wallis taking the charge, the funds of the
school were flourishing; the interest taken in it by the public was great,
and nearly half the Institution was occupied by the pupils, while the
applications for admission were more numerous than could be accommodated.
Under this management the public, who care little for abstract art, were
taught the close connexion between the instruction of the School of Design
and their private pursuits.
This is what is wanted in all our towns. It is not enough to teach boys and
girls,--the manufacturers and purchasers need to be taught by the eye, if not
by the hand.
According to part of Mr. Wallis's plan, an exhibition was held of the
drawings executed by the pupils for the annual prizes, which had a great
influence in laying the foundation for the efforts made by Manchester at the
Great Exhibition of Industry in Hyde Park.
While matters were proceeding so satisfactorily, the Somerset House
authorities (who have since been tried and condemned by a Committee of the
House of Commons), proceeded to earn their salaries by giving instructions
which could not be carried out without destroying all the good that had been
done. The Manchester Committee and Mr. Wallis protested against this red
tapish interference. It was persisted in; Mr. Wallis {172} resigned, to the
great regret of his pupils and manufacturing friends in the managing council.
The result was that the undertaking dwindled away rapidly to less than its
original insignificance,--the students fell off, and a deficit of debt
replaced the previously flourishing funds. Out of evil comes good. The case
of Manchester enabled Mr. Milner Gibson, M.P. for Manchester, to get his
Committee and overhaul the Schools of Design throughout the kingdom.
Certain changes were effected. The school, no longer able to pay the high
rent required by the Royal Institution, was removed to its present site in
Brown Street, placed under the management of Mr. Hammersley, who had
previously been a successful teacher at Nottingham, and freed from the
meddling of incompetent authorities. And now pupils anxiously crowd to
receive instruction, and annually display practical evidence of the
advantages they are enjoying.
The Manchester Mechanics' Institution was one of the pioneers in the movement
which led to the Great Exhibition. In 1831, was held its first Polytechnic
Exhibition for the purpose of showing the connexion between natural
productions, science, and manufactures. Subsequent Exhibitions were carried
out with great effect as a means of instruction and education, and with such
success as to pay off a heavy debt which had previously cramped the
usefulness of the Institution.
There are also several other institutions of the same class, amongst others
Salford, Ancoats, and Miles Platting Auxiliary Mechanics' Institutes.
The Athenaeum constitutes a kind of literary club for the middle classes, who
are provided with a good library and reading-room in a very handsome
building.
The Manchester Library contains 10,000 volumes, the Manchester Subscription
Library, established 1765, has the most extensive collection of books in the
city.
A Concert Hall in Peter Street, exclusively used for the purposes indicated
by its name, is supported by 600 subscribers at five guineas each.
The Chetham Society has been founded for the purpose of publishing ancient
MSS. and scarce works connected with the history of Lancashire.
The Exchange has upwards of two thousand subscribers.
By way of helping the body as well as the mind, in 1846 the inhabitants of
Manchester formed by subscription three public parks, called Queen's Park,
Peel's Park, and Philip's Park, in three different parts of the suburbs.
* * * * *
THE FREE GRAMMAR SCHOOL was founded by Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, in the
early part of the sixteenth century. It was originally founded for the
purpose of furnishing simple and elementary instruction to the poor. This
design is sufficiently proved by the language of the foundation deed, which
describes those sought to be benefited as persons who had been long in
ignorance "on account of the poverty of their parents." The present income
of the school is upwards of 5000 pounds a-year, leaving a considerable income
over its expenditure, notwithstanding that the operations of the school have
been extended by a decree of the Court of Chancery. In the year 1833 the
Court authorised the erection of a new building to include a residence for
the master. There are two schools, called the Higher and Lower. The
instructions given embrace the Greek and Latin, and the French, German, and
other modern languages; English literature, mathematics, the modern arts and
sciences, etc. A library is attached to the school for the use of the
pupils. There are twelve exhibitions, of the annual value of 60 pounds each,
for four years, in the gift of the Warden and High Master, who, however,
respect the recommendations of the Examiners. These gentlemen are three in
number, being Masters of Arts and Bachelors of Law of two years' standing,
two of them appointed by the Professor, and one by the High Master. They
each receive 20 pounds for their services. In addition to the twelve
exhibitions mentioned above, there are fifteen others connected with the
school, the bequest of a merchant named Hulme. These are appropriated to
under-graduates of Brasenose College, Oxford. Their value is to be fixed by
the patrons, but cannot exceed the sum of 220 pounds a year. They are to be
held for four years from the thirteenth term after matriculation. There are
sixteen scholarships to the same College; and sixteen to St. John's,
Cambridge, varying in value from l8 to 26 pounds, stand in rotation with the
pupils of Marlborough and Hereford Schools, and six scholarships of 24 pounds
to Magdalen College, Oxford, Manchester pupils having the preference. The
Examiners have also the power of making awards of books or mathematical
instruments, to the value of 25 pounds, in any cases of great merit.
The High Master's salary is fixed not to exceed 600 pounds, with house-rent
and taxes free. He is also allowed to take twenty boarders. He has the
assistance of an Usher (salary 300 pounds, with house and fifteen boarders);
an Assistant (salary 200 pounds, with house and twelve boarders); an Usher's
Assistant (salary 150 pounds, with house and ten boarders). There are, in
addition, a Master of the Lower School, a Writing, and a Mathematical Master,
a teacher of English literature, and another of foreign languages; all, with
the exception of the last, having houses, and their aggregate salaries
amounting to 800 pounds.
Four hundred scholars attended in 1850.
MANCHESTER NEW COLLEGE is an institution belonging to the Unitarian body, on
the plan of King's College, London, and was opened for the reception of
students on the 5th October, 1840. The curriculum of instruction embraces
every department of learning and polite literature.
THE LANCASHIRE INDEPENDENT COLLEGE is one of the affiliated Colleges of the
London University, and was established for the education of candidates for
the Christian Ministry amongst Congregational dissenters. There are three
resident Professors, the principal being the Rev. Dr. Vaughan, formerly
Professor of History in the University of London.
OWEN'S COLLEGE has recently been opened on the testamentary endowment of a
Mr. Owen, for affording an education on the plan of University College,
London.
CHETHAM'S HOSPITAL, or, as it is more properly termed, "College," was founded
by Charter in the year 1665, by Humphrey Chetham, a Manchester citizen and
tradesman, who had, during his lifetime, brought up, fed, and educated
fourteen boys of Manchester and Salford. He paid a heavy fine to Charles I.
for persisting in his refusal of a baronetcy, and in 1634 was appointed
Sheriff of his county. By his will Chetham directed that the number of boys
he had previously provided for should be augmented by the addition of one
from Droylsden, two from Crumpsall, four from Turton, and ten from Bolton;
and left the sum of 7000 pounds to be devoted to their instruction and
maintenance, from six to fourteen years of age, and for their apprenticeship
afterwards to some trade. The funds having since increased, 80 boys are now
received, in the following proportions, from the several places mentioned in
the founder's will, viz.:--Manchester, 28; Salford, 12; Droylsden, 6;
Crumpsall, 4; Bolton, 20; Turton, 10. They are clothed, fed, boarded,
lodged, and instructed in reading, writing, grammar, and arithmetic. The
boys are selected by the Feoffees in annual meeting at Easter, within six
days before the Monday in which week an application must be sent in to the
Governor, accompanied by a printed note of recommendation, signed by the
overseers and churchwardens of the place in which the candidate resides.
THE COLLEGE LIBRARY is situated in the same old building in which
accommodation is found for the College, and is a fine collection of upwards
of 25,000 volumes. The germ of this library consisted of the books
bequeathed by Humphrey Chetham, many of them of great scarcity and value. The
collection contains comparatively few volumes of modern date. The library is
open to the use of the public without charge or restriction, and a small, but
convenient, reading-room is provided for their accommodation. Books are not
allowed to be removed from the premises, and every reader is obliged to make
an entry of each volume he wishes to obtain. Notwithstanding the immense
population of Manchester and Salford, this valuable institution is
comparatively little used, the number of readers averaging less than twenty
per day.
SWINTON SCHOOL.--In connexion with the Workhouse an Industrial House and
School has been erected at Swinton, five miles from the City, which affords
so admirable an example for imitation by all manufacturing or crowded
communities, that we are glad to be able to extract the main facts concerning
it from a graphic description in the first volume of Dickens's Household
Words:--
"Swinton School cost sixty thousand pounds, and is a handsome building in
the Tudor style of architecture, with a frontage of 450 feet, containing
more than 100 windows. Pleasure grounds and play grounds surround it, and
it resembles more a nobleman's palace than the Home of Pauper Children.
The inmates consist of 630 children, of whom 305 are orphans, and 124
deserted by their parents, under charge of a Chaplain, a Head Master, a
Medical Officer, a Roman Catholic Priest, a Governor, a Matron, six
Schoolmasters, and four School-mistresses, with a numerous staff of
officials, Nurses, and Teachers of Trades, receiving salaries and wages
amounting to 1,800 pounds a-year, besides board. Some in the institution
are as young as one year and a half.
All are educated, and those who are old enough are taught trades and
domestic employments. When they leave they are furnished with two suits
of clothes. The character of the Institution stands so high, that the
public are eager for the girls as domestic servants. If it has not
already been done, we hope that the cultivation of land on the system of
market gardens will be added to the trades, as affording a more certain,
and, in some respects, more generally useful employment. Educated
agricultural labourers are rare, much prized, and soon promoted to be
overseers and bailiffs.
The education at Swinton is conducted on the modern plan, which prevails
in the best schools under Government inspection. The children are taught
to love and look upon their masters and mistresses as friends, to be
consulted and applied to as they would to kind parents.
For instance take this bit, familiar to visitors of Infant Schools, but
still new to many:--
The children under six years of age, summoned by the sound of a whistle
from the play ground, trooped in glad groups to an anteroom, and girls and
boys intermixed, at a signal from the Master marched into the schoolroom
singing a tune.
Then followed such viva voce instruction as too many better endowed
children do not get for want of competent teachers. Indeed a better
education is now given in Workhouses than can be obtained for children
under twelve years of age at any paid school that we know of. For
instance:--
"What day is this?"
"Monday."
"What sort of a day is it?"
"Very fine."
"Why is it fine?"
"Because the sun shines, and it does not rain."
"Is rain a bad thing, then?"
"No."
"What is it useful for?"
"To make the flowers and the fruit grow."
"Who sends rain and sunshine?"
"God."
"What ought we to do in return for his goodness?"
"Praise him."
"Let us praise him, then," added the Master.
And the children altogether repeated, and then sang, a part of the 149th
psalm."
Now all this is very fine, and a wonderful improvement on the old dog-eared
Redinmadeasy, but better follows. After a time the children grew tired and
sleepy, one fell asleep. Did the Master slap them all round and pull the
ears of the poor little fat somnus? No. He marched them all out singing and
beating time to play for a quarter of an hour.
We commend Swinton to the consideration of the credulous disciples of the
firebrand school of economists, who believe that Manchester men devour little
children daily, without stint or mercy for their poor little bodies or souls.
Manchester obtained a municipal corporation under the provisions of the
general act for that purpose, passed in the reign of his late Majesty William
IV. Gas works, established in 1817, are the property of the town, and
produce a surplus income amounting to between three and four thousand pounds
a year, which are devoted to public improvements. The corporation have
recently obtained power to establish water works, and to purchase up the
plant of an existing company.
The guardians of the workhouses of Manchester have a most difficult task to
perform, especially in times of commercial depression, as thousands are
thrown upon their hands at once. Among the most troublesome customers are
the Irish, who flock to Manchester through Liverpool in search of work, and
form a population herding together, very ignorant, very poor, and very
uncleanly.