In 1852-53 another attempt was made to form a Literary and Scientific Institution, to take up the work which the Mechanics’ Institution and the Polytechnic Institution had failed to accomplish. The first public help given was by one of the first public readings of the Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, which produced for the three readings, £227. 19s. 9d., and continued the interest and help which Dickens had given as President of the Polytechnic Institution some years before. From this date the Midland Institute has most successfully provided for all classes, by its literature and science classes, its public lectures, and its musical and archæological sections, and has become one of the most successful of all similar institutions.
Magazines and Pamphlets.—So early as 1764 a “Birmingham Register and Entertaining Museum” had been published on the lines of the Gentleman’s Magazine, and ten years later a “Medical Miscellany” appeared which, however, did not live long, and no similar serial appeared till 1817. During the whole of this period, and especially just before or after the riots in 1791, the town was deluged with pamphlets, chiefly on political subjects, and great feuds arose. The pupils of the famous “Hazelwood School” issued the “Hazelwood Magazine,” often illustrated with etchings and lithographs from 1822 to 1830, and the pupils of King Edward’s School have from time to time had a “Magazine” of their own. This example was followed by the “Proprietary School” on two or three occasions. “The Oscotian” in 1828 reached 3 vols., and was resumed later, and is still issued. For several years, circa 1830, several Magazines devoted to the drama were published, and were useful in their day.
Newspapers.—The pamphlets of the last century were superseded by the newspaper press; Birmingham, which had a “Journal” in 1731, and a “Gazette” in 1741; had its first “Daily Press” in 1855, when the taxes on knowledge were repealed, and “Daily Post” in 1857, and “Daily Gazette” in 1862. In 1869, an attempt was made to establish a Midland “Illustrated News,” which continued for some two years. In the same year the first halfpenny evening paper appeared, the “Daily Mail,” and in 1871, the “Birmingham Morning News” was established, with the late George Dawson as its first editor.
Magazines.—Magazine literature has often been attempted since 1764, but not successfully. In 1876, the “Birmingham Examiner,” a weekly newspaper of politics and literature was tried for some months, and about the same time the “Medical Review,” the “Midland Naturalist,” and the “Central Literary Magazine,” were founded and flourish still. An illustrated Magazine, “Mid-England” appeared in 1879, but failed to secure the “Midland” readers; and the “Midland Antiquary,” devoted to archæology, genealogy, and heraldry, since 1879.
Debating Societies have been numerous, and have generally held their ground, and helped to train some of the best speakers and debaters of our day. The Birmingham Debating Society was founded in 1846, and amalgamated with the Edgbaston Society in 1855. Parliamentary Debating Societies—“echoes” of the House of Commons—have been tried two or three times but without success, although flourishing for some years. The Central Literary Association has been one of the most long-lived and popular of debating societies, and its Magazine has also been a marked success. In 1856 an Amateur Dramatic Club was formed, and many very excellent performances were given. A Dramatic Club, holding winter meetings, has been established since for the reading of papers, and the celebration of the Shakespeare Anniversary; and “Our Shakespeare Club” has met for more than thirty years as a social rather than literary club, whose chief work was to found the Shakespeare Memorial Library. A Graduates Club was founded by the late Dr. C. Badham for social meetings of University Graduates; a Clef Club has recently been opened for lovers of music; the Historical Society, at Mason College, has been merged into the Philosophical Society, which meets in the same building; the Natural History and Microscopical Society has many and devoted members; the Law Society has its learned discussions; the Medical Institute has its Library and Meetings; the students of the Midland Institute and of Mason College have their respective societies and magazines; the Archæological section of the Institute has its meetings, excursions, and transactions; the Natural History Society its numerous members, and its excursions and magazine,—all being social as well as scientific, and helping to raise the standard of taste and knowledge among all classes of the town.
Chapter V.
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
BY C.E. MATHEWS.
The Birmingham General Hospital.—At the commencement of the second half of the last century, Birmingham was a small manufacturing town with a population but little in excess of 30,000 souls. At that time no medical or surgical relief could be obtained by its suffering poor except at the Infirmary attached to the Workhouse. But in November, 1765, Dr. Ash, an eminent member of the local medical profession, called a meeting of the principal inhabitants “to consider the advisability of establishing a general hospital for the relief of the sick and lame.”