The Charities in Lancashire are 1181 in number, being more than in any other county except Devon, Norfork, Somerset and York. Their total annual income is rated at £35,734 11s. 10d., of which £18,715 2s. 8d. is devoted to education. The total Charities in England, investigated up to 1835, are 26751, and in Wales 890, and there still remained in that year many counties wholly unexamined. The commission, however, has lately been renewed, and will doubtless now complete its work. The expense of the investigation, up to the middle of 1835, was £208,527 13s. CHAPTER II. THE ROYAL MANCHESTER INSTITUTION claims in its design to rank, if not at the head, certainly second in the list of the literary and scientific associations of Manchester.* It had its public origin in a general meeting of the inhabitants, held in the Exchange Room on Wednesday the 1st. October, 1823, Dr. Davenport Hulme in the chair, "to take into consideration the suggestion of an Establishment in Manchester for the encouragement of the Fine Arts." The first resolution of that meeting defined the objects for which the Society was formed to be-the establishment of a collection of the best models that can be obtained, in painting and sculpture, the opening a channel through which the works of meritorious artists may be brought before the public, and the encouragement of literary and scientific pursuits by facilitating the delivery of popular courses of public lectures. Such briefly was the basis of "the Manchester Institution for the Promotion of Literature, Science, and the Arts." Other resolutions of the same meeting fixed the qualification of members and the mode of government. The management of the Institution was vested in a President and twelve Vice-Presidents, and the current direction was confided to a Council of twenty-four, to be annually chosen at the general meeting of Govornors-the President to be capable of serving only twelve months, three Vice-Presidents to be changed every year, and those six members of the Council who have been least punctual in their attendance during the past to be ineligible for the ensuing year. The Governors, however, were authorized to make any change in the regulations which might be found necessary, provided it had the sanction of threefourths of the Governors present at each of two meetings duly convèned within an interval of one month. At the time of its formation the Institution set sail with modest pretensions, the intention being to purchase premises in Kingstreet, (then occupied by Mr. Howe) to model them to the purposes of the Society, and, if possible, to strengthen it in its infancy by a junction with the Natural History Society, as to which the meeting expressed "their hope that arrangements in every respect satisfactory to its members may be made for the accommodation of its valuable collections in the apartments of the house purchased for the Institution, [i. e. in King-street] and that the two Societies may ever bé distinguished by a cordial and zealous co-operation for the furtherance of their common object." Other resolutions were passed by this meeting, one of which conveyed its "warmest thanks" to Mr. G. W. Wood "for the unwearied exertions and great ability which he had displayed in promoting the formation of the Institution." The crowning point of the proceedings was the election of a Committee to carry the design into operation, five members being * Some notice of the Literary and Philosophical Society will be found in connexion with the memoir of its President, Dr. Dalton. qualified to act. The gentlemen were-Sir Oswald Mosley, Bart., F. Dukinfield Astley, Esq., J. D. Hulme, M. D., Edward Holme, M. D., William Henry, M. D., E. J. Lloyd, Esq., Mr. Thomas Hardman, Mr. Edward Loyd, Mr. Robt. Hindley, Mr. William Garnett, Mr. G. F. Bury, Mr. David Holt, Mr. G. W. Wood, Mr. H. H. Birley, Mr. Robert Christie, Mr. John Kirkman, Mr. William Brigham, Mr. J. A. Ransome, Mr. W. Townend, Mr. Jon. Dawson, Mr. Thos. Ainsworth, Mr. Francis Phillips, Mr. James Beardoe, Mr. Joseph Birley, Mr. James Hibbert, Mr. William Cririe, Mr. John Touchet, Mr. Robert H. Greg.Unfortunately, the success of the projected Institution was so great as to overturn the sober views of some leading members of the Council. No sooner were the hundred pounds of contributions converted into thousands, and the single thousands swollen into tens, than some members of the Committee (for it appears that on this question there was a "difference of opinion") abandoned the original plan, warmly advocating the erection of a new and expensive structure, "combining elegance with utility," "which would reflect honor on the public spirit and good taste of the founders, and be considered more accordant with the wealth and consequence of the town of Manchester." A strong appeal for authority to erect a new building was successfully made to the general body of Governors, who, with an available fund of only £11,500, authorized the Committee actively to prepare for the erection of a building as to which they reported that "any sum less than £15,000 would be totally insufficient." That point conceded, another step was attempted, and the Council brought forward for adoption, as the best of four architectural plans, the model of an erection (by Mr. Barry, of London) which would cost from £18,000 to £20,000. To warrant this expenditure the Committee acknowledged that there must be a further accession to the funds of from £8,000 to £10,000, the subscription amounting to only £21,600, whereas £32,000 would be required if the Governors adhered to their excellent intention of devoting one-fourth their capital as a permanent fund to the useful purposes of the Institution. In 1825 this sum of £32,000 was subscribed; £28,177 were actually paid into the bank. The King's special patronage of the Institution had also been obtained through the mediation of Mr. Secretary Peel. Still, however, a portion of the Committee clung cautiously to the maxim festina lente, and whilst one section of their body were zealous to break ground at once, others thought that "it was desirable to know in detail what would be the absolute cost of the whole structure, before the plans were begun to be acted upon." The latter section were defeated, and tenders for parts of the work were forthwith publicly required. Land had been purchased in Mosley-street at a net outlay of £3,225; other small sums had been expended, and there then remained in hand, deducting £7,044 as a permanent fund, the sum of £13,083 available for a building which was to cost £20,000. In addition to this amount there were promised (but not paid) subscriptions to the extent of £4,000, of which £3,000, when received, would be applicable to the building, making a conjectural total of £16,083 for that object. Still therefore, under the most favorable circumstances, there was a deficiency of £4,000, and the season was one the least probable to produce a change for the better, the town having recently been visited by and being scarcely recovered from that terrible commercial panic which carried desolation on its wings. The Committee, however, buoyant and sanguine, clung to their expensive designs-proclaimed the "great pain and regret" with which they should abandon them-urged as an argument in their favor the patronage they had obtained "in the highest quarter"—and anticipated that as there was nothing in the "splendid model" of a £20,000 building "inconsistent with the rank which Manchester holds among the cities of the world," so was there "nothing in the plan beyond what the resources of the town could easily accomplish." The expensive scheme was sanctioned by the Governors, and its first-fruit was the imposition, within six months, of an annual charge of one guinea upon the Hereditary Governors resident within a prescribed distance of the town, (or the payment in lieu of twenty pounds) in addition to their forty guinea subscription. The outlay of twenty-one thousand pounds upon the building was by this to be completely covered. "A permanent income (they said) will thus be obtained equal to the income derivable from the permanent fund, which may then be advanced on mortgage of the building, and made available towards the cost of erection." This step was taken, and the works proceeded. In December, 1830, the Committee announced the state of their funds: -£22,365 11s. 1 d. had been expended on the building alone; the total incomings had been £31,687 5s. 74d., of which there remained a balance in hand of £5,884 3s. 8d.-At the close of 1831 the outlay in land and buildings* amounted to £26,070 12s. 24d., and there was an ominous reduction in the "balance in hand." On the 8th. January, 1834, a circular to each Governor conveyed, in the following statement of account, a tolerably decisive notification that the whole £32,000 had been absorbed. Present Annual Income from Hereditary and Annual Governors... £480 18 0 Permanent Annual Expenses estimated on the average of the last Poor, Church and Highway Rates, and Land Tax.... Insurance on £5,000 Printing, Stationery, &c. Balance, applicable for Casual Expenses, Lectures, &c..... 29 7 3 The Institution has now, therefore, no assured means of carrying out the legitimate designs of its founders. The permanent annual charges very nearly swallow its annual income, and its only other sources of revenue consist in those vacant parts of the edifice whence perhaps a fluctuating rental may be obtained, and the proceeds of the exhibitions, which vary from four to six hundred pounds per annum. This money, however, was designed originally to be expended in enriching the interior of the edifice with works of art. The permanent fund has almost disappeared, and no efficient substitute for it seems likely to arise. The balance sheet at the close of the year 1835-6 stated the *Since that time the following additional amounts have been expended on the building Making a total outlay for the land and edifice of about thirty-one thousand pounds. |