COOPER INSTITUTE, a fine six-story brown-stone, covering a block between Seventh and Eighth streets, Third and Fourth avenues, is a munificent donation from the man whose name it bears, and cost nearly half a million. Its enlightened projector grew up in poverty, with scanty means of culture, and the building is the fruit of frugal toil, coupled with a long-cherished desire to promote a knowledge of science and art among the laboring classes. It contains vast halls for lectures, a fine reading-room, evening-schools for young ladies, mechanics, and apprentices, galleries of art, and collections of rare inventions. The large lecture-room in the basement is the most popular public hall in the city, and has echoed to the eloquence of the most noted men of this country, and many from Europe. It was in this hall that Red Cloud delivered his great address in the early summer of 1870. The first floor of the building is rented for stores, and brings an income of nearly thirty thousand dollars.

The Free Night Classes in Cooper Union had an average attendance during February, 1871, as follows: School of Science, 276; School of Art, 643; School of Telegraphy, 35; Scientific Lectures, 545; Oratory Class, 100; total, 1,569. The new classes in English literature and the French language were attended by 200 and 100, respectively, bringing up the general total of attendance to over 1,800. The School of Design for girls and women has been attended by over eighty daily, and that of Engraving for women by 26. The number of visitors to the free reading-room was 29,383; number of books used, 4,509.