Your account of the London Institution has delighted and tantalised me. I wish I were a professor! But the printed paper is too general to admit of any discussion. You do not say how many and who are to be professors. It may surely be a little more solid than the fashionable nerves of Albemarle Street could endure without ceasing to be popular.
In 1806 ‘the attempt to make the Institution fashionable’ by means of the number and quality of the lectures seemed to attain the success that Mr. Bernard desired. There was an increase of nearly 3,000l. in proprietors’ shares and in subscriptions. The debt of 2,000l. formed in 1802 was paid off, and the sum in the funds amounted to nearly 4,000l. The library was completed by a separate subscription; this amounted to nearly 7,000l., of which about 5,000l. was spent in books.
With the exception of the Professor of Moral Philosophy the same professors were this year re-elected.
In the report of the visitors in 1807 the following statement of the lectures and of the general result of the management in 1805-6 and in 1806-7 is made:
| Lecturers | Subjects | Number of Lectures. Season 1805-6 | Season 1806-7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Davy | Geology and Chemistry | 22 | 28 |
| Mr. Allen | Natural Philosophy | 25 | 32 |
| Rev. W. Crowe | Poetry and Dramatic Poetry | 21 | 24 |
| Rev. T. F. Dibden | English Literature | 10 | 12 |
| Rev. J. Hewlett | Belles Lettres | 8 | 8 |
| Dr. Crotch | Music | 13 | 25 |
| Rev. E. Foster | History of Commerce | — | 8 |
| Mr. Douglas Guest | State of the Fine Arts in Spain | — | 4 |
| Mr. Wood | Perspective | — | 9 |
| Dr. Shaw | Zoology | 12 | 12 |
| Dr. Smith (afterwards Sir James) | Botany | 14 | 14 |
| Mr. Craig | Drawing in Water Colours | 8 | 8 |
| Rev. Sydney Smith | Moral Philosophy | 14 | |
| Mr. Opie | Painting | 6 | |
| Mr. Landseer | Engraving | 4 |
‘Nothing,’ the visitors said, ‘seems necessary for substantiating and promoting the interests of the Institution but that the managers should proceed in the track which they have hitherto pursued, and should continue to receive that approbation which has so fully rewarded their former labours.’
On May 26, 1806, Mr. Bernard reported to the managers that Mr. Davy would in November next begin a course of twenty lectures in the higher departments of experimental chemistry, on Vegetable and Animal Analysis and on the Experimental History of Heat, Light, and Electricity; and that in the spring he would begin another course of twenty lectures on the Chemistry of Nature, containing elucidations of the design, order, and harmony of the chemical arrangements in the globe. In the first course he proposed to give two lectures a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and in the second course one lecture a week, on Wednesdays; the hour of the lecture to be two o’clock. The ventilation of the lecture room was considered this day.
Mr. Bernard later reported that Mr. Coleridge would give two courses of eight lectures on the Principles Common to the Fine Arts for 120l.; to commence in November, every Thursday at two.
Mr. Lawrence, the surgeon, proposed to give a course of lectures on the Animal Economy. These were not accepted. The Rev. Sydney Smith proposed to give a fifth course of eight lectures in the ensuing spring for a compliment of 90l.; ‘and, in case it should be in his power, he would give some additional lectures, not exceeding six, for a compliment of 10l. a lecture.’ These lectures circumstances obliged him to give up. He was paid 120l. for his third and fourth courses, which he gave in 1806. His lectures were not printed until after his death.