Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/486

Rh 462 MANCHESTER Churches. The chief ecclesiastical building in Man chester is the cathedral, which, however, hardly corre sponds to the ideas usually associated with that word. It was indeed built simply as a parish church, and, although a fine specimen of Perpendicular Gothic, is by no means what might be expected as the cathedral of an important and wealthy diocese. Though there are remains of older work, the bulk of the building belongs to the early part of the 15th century. The first warden was John Huntington, rector of Ashton, who built the choir. The building, which was noticed for its hard stone by Leland when he visited the town, did not stand time and weather well, and by 1845 some portions of it were rapidly decaying. This led to its restoration by Holclen, which was not finished until 1868, when the tower was almost completely renovated in a more durable stone than that formerly used. The total length is 220 feet and the breadth 112 feet; the only parish church exceeding it in this last dimension is said to be that of Coventry. There are several stained-glass windows. In the Ely chapel is the altar tomb of Bishop Stanley, the father of the gallant Sir John Stanley, who fought at Flodden Field. In the stalls there are some curious miserere carvings. The tower is 139 feet high, and con tains a peal of ten bells, chiefly from the foundry of the Rudhalls. There are two organs, one by Father Smith, and a new one erected at a cost of more than 7000, and enclosed in an oak case designed by the late Sir G. Scott. The church endowments are considerable, and have been the subject of a special act of parliament, known as the Manchester Kectory Division Act of 1845, which provides 1 500 per annum for the dean, and 600 to each of the four canons, and divides the residue among the incumbents of the new churches formed out of the old parish. There are about one hundred places of worship in Manchester belonging to the Church of England, but they are not especially remarkable. Of the Roman Catholic churches, the most important are the cathedral church of St John in Salford, of the earliest Decorative character, with a spire 240 feet in height, and the church of the Holy Name, which belongs to the Jesuits, and is remarkable for its costly decoration. Salford is the seat of a Iloman Catholic bishopric, as Manchester is the seat of an Anglican one. Most of the Nonconformist bodies have churches in the city and its environs. The meeting-house of the Society of Friends is said to be the largest of the kind in the kingdom, and will seat twelve hundred persons. Literature and Science. Manchester possesses numerous associations for the cultivation of literature and science. The oldest of these, the Literary and Philosophical Society, founded in 1781, has a high reputation, and has numbered among its working members John Dalton, Eaton Hodg- kinson, William Fairbairn, J. P. Joule, H: E. Roscoe, and many other famous men of science. It has published a lengthy series of memoirs and proceedings. The Man chester Literary Club was founded in 1862, and publishes an annual volume of papers. The Manchester Statistical Society was the first society of the kind established in the kingdom, and has issued Transactions containing many important papers. The Scientific Students Association, the Field Naturalists and Archaeologists Society, the Microscopical Society, the Botanists Association, the Geo logical Society, and the Science Association may also be named. Several printing clubs, the Chetham, Record, Holbein, and English Dialect societies, have their head quarters here. Nine daily papers are published, and the journalism of Manchester takes high rank. The periodicals issued are between fifty and sixty in number. University and Schools. There are many educational facilities in Manchester and Salford. The oldest school is the Manchester grammar school, which was founded in 1519 by Hugh Oldham, bishop of Exeter, who was a native of Crumpsall, one of the outskirts of the town. The foundation was done &quot; out of the good mind he bore to the county of Lancashire, perceiving that the children thereof, having pregnant wits, were for the most part brought up rudely and idly; that knowledge might be advanced, and that the children might be better taught to love, honour, and dread God and His laws.&quot; The master and usher appointed by the good bishop were to teach freely every child and scholar coming to the school, &quot; without any money or reward taken.&quot; Some mills were devised for the maintenance of the school, which was further endowed at both the universities by Sarah, duchess of Somerset, in 1692. The school has been reconstituted on a new basis within recent years, and has now two hundred and fifty free scholars, whilst other pupils are received on payment of low fees. Mr E. R. Langworthy bequeathed to it 10,000 as an endowment for scholarships. Among those educated at the grammar school may be mentioned Thomas De Quincey and the late Mr Harrison Ainsworth. The Owens College was founded in 1846 by John Owens, who left nearly 100,000 to trustees for an institution in which should be taught &quot;such branches of learning and science as were then and might be hereafter usually taught in English universities.&quot; The college was opened in 1851, in a house which had formerly been the residence of Cobden, but in 1872 it was removed to its present home, a hand some Gothic building designed by Waterhouse. An appeal made to the public in 1867 in behalf of the college was heartily responded to, and its capital funds now amount to over 400,000. The building is carefully adapted to its purposes; and the chemical laboratory, a separate struc ture at the rear, is of the completest description. The first bishop of Manchester, Dr J. Prince Lee, who had an interesting library of some 6000 volumes, bequeathed it to the college, which has also received gifts of books and money from various other quarters, and thus has now the nucleus of an important collection. The Royal School of Medicine, which was founded in 1824, and had acquired the reputation of being one of the most successful of the provincial schools, has been amalgamated with the college. The Medical Society has, by an arrangement with the college authorities, deposited its valuable library of 22,000 volumes in the college rooms. The Manchester museum is now the property of the college, and contains the bulk of the specimens gathered by the Geological Society and by the now extinct Natural History Society. A suitable build ing for the accommodation of the museum has long been a decided want, and is now (1882) about to be undertaken. The growing importance of the Owens College led to the project for a university charter. The proposal was not received without some opposition, but as the result of lengthy discussions and adjustments a scheme was evolved for a university to consist of affiliated colleges, situated in different towns, but having its centre in Manchester ; and the charter of the Victoria University was granted in 1880, with full powers to grant degrees except in medicine an exception which is to be removed. Among the other educational institutions of the district are the Lancashire Independent college, the Primitive Methodist college, the Baptist institute, the St Bede s college (Roman Catholic), the college for women, the Salford college for working men, the school of art, and many minor institutions. The elementary education is controlled by an elected school board. Salford has also a school board. Very nearly the oldest educational institution in the town is the Chetham hospital, a bluecoat school educating one hundred boys ; and almost the latest addition to these institutions is a similar institution founded by the late Alderman Nicholls. The schools for the deaf and dumb are situated at Old.