iByperimental  legislation

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invented  Penny  Readings  tor  the  people,  and  they
answered  so  well  under  his  management  that  they
were  imitated  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and
eventually  in  many  other  parts  of  the  world.
Spelling-bees  were,  I  believe,  an  American  invention, ­
  and  had  a  very  lively  but  brief  career.  Many
recent  courses  of  popular  scientific  lectures  arose
out  of  the  very  successful  experiment  instituted  by
Professor  Roscoe  at  Manchester.  Many  attempts
are  just  now  being  made  to  provide  attractive  and
harmless  amusements  for  the  people,  and  this
must,  of  course,  be  done  in  a  tentative  manner.
It  is  curious,  indeed,  to  observe  how  evanescent
many  social  inventions  prove  themselves  to  be;
growth  and  change  have  been  so  rapid  of  late  that
there  is  constant  need  of  new  inventions.  The
Royal  Institution  in  Albemarle  Street  was  a
notable  invention  of  its  time,  chiefly  due  to  Count
Rumford,  and  its  brilliant  success  led  to  early
imitation  in  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Edinburgh,
and  perhaps  elsewhere.  But  the  provincial  institutions ­
  have  with  difficulty  maintained  their  raison
cTetre.  After  the  Royal  Institutions  came  a  series
of  Mechanics’  Institutions,  which,  as  regards  the
mechanic  element,  were  thoroughly  unsuccessful,
but  proved  themselves  useful  in  the  form  of
popular  colleges  or  middle-class  schools.  Now,
the  great  and  genuine  success  of  Owen’s  College
as  a  teaching  body  is  leading  to  the  creation  of
numerous  local  colleges  of  similar  type.  This  is