about the reforms which these institutions so imperatively need, the poor of many future generations will have reason to thank them for their labours. I must not omit to notice here the means which have been taken in the latter part of this half-century to induce a love and pursuit of knowledge amongst the working classes, by the establishment of Mechanics’ Institutions, one of which is now to be found in almost every town in the county. The elder born of these societies are, unfortunately, already passing to decay, and, as at present conducted, they do not seem to possess any inherent vitality. They have undoubtedly been useful in displaying the more attractive results of study and science—the flowers by the wayside, which may tempt triflers to venture a short distance on Learning’s easier paths—but they offer little or no assistance to those who would resolutely dare its difficult ascents. The efforts of the friends of education should be directed to making these institutions what their projector, Lord Brougham, intended they should be—People’s Colleges. An estimate of the provision made for RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION in this county will be found in the Appendix—Table No. 3. The Established Church, by new buildings or enlargements, has increased the accommodation for attendants on its forms of worship, since the year 1800, by one fifth to one fourth. Upon looking at the large numbers provided for by Wesleyanism, in its various forms, the thought cannot but occur that if the Church of England could have retained John Wesley and his followers, as Rome did St. Francis D’Assissi, to be its evangelists among the masses of the population, it must have received a vast accession of strength. The Wesleyans in forsaking their first simple object of evangelism for that of building up a permanent ecclesiastical polity, seem to have mistaken the source of their own power, and during the last two years their numbers have considerably decreased from disaffection in the body. The Independents and Baptists have been deficient in proselytism, conceiving their special mission to be to keep in purity the faith committed to them from their Puritan forefathers. The Unitarians and Friends are stationary sects. The Roman Catholics have built ten small chapels in this county during the present century, and as to numbers, they have barely kept pace with the increase of population. The annual value of church livings in this county is about £62,000; the income of the See of Worcester is fixed at £5,000; and the net revenue of the Dean and Chapter of Worcester is returned at £8,698. The various bodies of Protestant Dissenters raise at least £20,000 annually for the support of their ministers, Sabbath schools, missions, and other religious institutions.