ANDERSON-RUMFORD—BIRKBECK-BROUGHAM.

Under the influence of the tried success of the Andersonian Lectures (1793 and 1795) and the Mechanics' Institute at Glasgow, the Royal Institution (Rumford in 1799) and Mechanics' Institute (Birkbeck and Brougham in 1823) at London, the Society of Arts (Horner in 1821) at Edinburgh, and similar institutions were established in different parts of the kingdom to the number of 800 in 1828, which had increased under different names, and with modifications of aims and methods, but all substantially and avowedly directed to the scientific and technical instruction of the members, who were largely made up of working men, to 4,000 associations in 1868. The most potent appeals in summoning the mechanics to this work, were made by that earnest and eloquent champion of popular education, Henry Brougham, the Great Commoner, as he was called, before his true glory was lost in the miscellaneous and no longer significant title of Lord. His essay on the Pleasures and Advantages of Science, with which he inaugurated the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and his various efforts in the House of Commons, and the House of Lords, to secure the establishment of a system of public schools for England, entitle him to a distinguished position in the records of the early and efficient champions of scientific popular education.*

PLAYFAIR-SPENCER-WHITWORTH-RUSSELL.

Out of the many able and timely utterances by pen and voice, from the establishment of the Schools of Design in 1836 to the thorough organization of the Science and Art Department in 1869, including its indefatigable secretary, Henry Cole; from the discussions embraced in and which grew out of the Reports of Parliamentary Commissions (numbering over 36 folio volumes) on the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, of Scotland and Ireland, the Public Schools and Endowed Grammar Schools of England, Ireland and Scotland, on Science in institutions of higher culture; from special publications, official and individual, on scientific and technical instruction, and the conferences under the auspices of the Society of Arts, British Science Association, and Chambers of Trade; from the eighteen Reports with all the valuable appended papers of the Science and Art Department,-has come the partial realization of the desire of Bacon, Milton, Hartlib, Petty, Cowley and others, the gradual result of innumerable contributions of many earnest workers in the field of scientific, realistic and technical education. We will here name only Prof. Lyon Playfair's "Industrial Education on the Continent"; Herbert Spencer's "Relative values of different Knowledges"; Whitworth's brief Letter accompanying his endowment of $500,000 for the encouragement of mechanical dexterity and scientific knowledge in working men; and J. Scott Russell's "Systematic Technical Education of the English People," in 1869. The well directed and constant labors of the Council of the Society of Arts, in behalf of scientific and industrial schools, can not be too highly estimated.

Several of the Plans of institutions, in which mathematics and the sciences of nature hold a prominent place, referred to in this historical glance of individual efforts to promote scientific and technical education in England, will be brought together in a separate chapter.

* An extended notice of Brougham's Educational Labors will be found in the American Journal of Education, Vol. VI., pp. 467-508; and a History of Mechanic Institutes in Vol. X., p. 332.

II. ASSOCIATED EFFORTS TO ADVANCE SCIENCE AND THE ARTS.

SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF THE ARTS.

THE SOCIETY OF ARTS was founded in 1754, at a meeting suggested and called by William Shipley,* a landscape painter, who in 1747, "from a wellgrounded persuasion of the extensive utility of the art of drawing to the nation," erected an Academy in the Strand, where he taught this art and practiced his profession. The object of the founders was proclaimed from the start in the designation which it bore-The Society for the Encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.

Among the earliest to appreciate the beneficent aims of the Society and extend their scope so as to embrace the Colonies, was Benjamin Franklin, of the Colony of Pennsylvania, who communicated in 1755, a Proposal for Promoting Useful Knowledge among the British Plantations in America, bearing date May 14, 1753. The Society readily adopted the views of the author, and in 1755 elected him a corresponding member. In acknowledging the letter announcing the fact, he says: "Although you do not require your correspondents to bear any part of your expense, you will, I hope, permit me to throw my mite into your fund, and accept the twenty guineas I propose to send you shortly, to be applied in premiums for some improvements in Britain, as a grateful though small return for your most kind and generous intention of encouraging improvements in America. I flatter myself, from that part of your plan, that those jealousies which were formerly entertained by the mother country begin to subside. Never be discouraged by any apprehension that arts are come to such perfection in England as to be incapable of further improvement. As yet the quantity of human knowledge bears no proportion to the quantity of human ignorance. The improvements made within these 2,000 years, considerable as they are, would have been much more so, if the ancients had possessed one or two arts now of common use-those of copper-plate and letter printing. Whatever is now exactly delineated and described by these can scarcely (from the multitude of copies) be lost to posterity. And the knowledge of small matters gives the hint, and is sometimes the occasion of great discoveries, perhaps ages

after."

At that time the industrial condition of England was very backward and unpromising. Coal was hardly used, woolen was spun by hand, machines being employed neither for this nor other purposes; education was neglected, and art discouraged; agriculture was in its rudest state, very few labor-saving tools being used, while drainage and the planting of high lands were not practiced. Internal communication was so neglected that pack-horses furnished the best means of transportation. Only the coarsest pottery was manufactured; most even of genteel tables were furnished with vessels of wood, pewter and leather;

* MR. SHIPLEY, who acted as Secretary of the first meeting of the Society, held March 29th, 1754, entered in the first minute-book of the proceedings, three letters published anonymously in 1721, advocating the establishment of an Association to be called the Chamber of Arts, "for the improvement of operative knowledge, the mechanical arts, inventions, and manufactures ;" and after them, the Proposal issued by Benjamin Franklin for the formation of a Society at Philadelphia, to be called the American Philosophical Society, "for the Improvement of Useful Knowledge among the British Plantations of America."

and as to cloths, only the coarsest fustians were manufactured. Most elegant objects of artistic design, of household use, or of wear, were brought from abroad. For instance, linen, silks and porcelain came from the Continent; while for chintz, muslins, and the finer fabrics, the Englishi went as far as India. To remedy this state of things, the Society of Arts set itself at work, and, in March, 1754, after noting "that Drawing is absolutely necessary in many employments, trades and manufactures, and the encouragement thereof may prove of great utility to the country," resolved to offer premiums to a certain number of boys and girls for superior proficiency in this art, ascertained by a committee of examination; as well as other premiums for discovery of cobalt, the growth of madder, and the manufacture of buff leather. The adjudication under this first competitive exhibition of artistic skill in England was made in 1755; and in the following year, in the absence of a National Gallery, the Duke of Richmond, who had begun a collection of statues, busts and models in 1750, allowed examples to be selected for copying for the premiums of that year.

From the date of its thorough organization in November, 1757, the Society has gone forward steadily in its efforts to advance the industrial interests of the Empire, and not a few of the great improvements in Agriculture, Commerce, and Manufactures, originated in the suggestions of its members, and in the stimulus and rewards of their associated labors. Upwards of $500,000 have been expended in prizes and other forms of encouragement for new inventions and improvements in the useful arts.

In art, the establishment of the British Museum, the National Gallery, and the South Kensington Museum, is probably indirectly owing to its influence. The Society has paid much attention to the improvement of material, implements, and processes of art. Bronze casting and chasing, iron casting, artistic metal, and other works, have been much encouraged; also the imitation and copying of intaglios or cameos.

The Society contributed to establish the struggling art of lithography in Great Britain, giving a gold medal to Senefelder, its discoverer, and publishing accounts of the processes in its transactions.

The revival of the art of steel engraving, carried to such perfection by Albert Durer, was the result of experiments set on foot by its committees, who succeeded after many experiments. The discovery superseded to a great extent the use of copper plates.

AGRICULTURE was not included in the original scheme of Shipley himself, but was at once added, the system of premiums being adopted as the best spur to industry. The improvement of agricultural produce, the planting of timber, and the reclamation of waste lands, were the objects of papers, discussions, and awards.

The present condition of the grass and root crops is owing to this attention. This first influenced the farmer to discriminate and separate the different sorts of grass, and to cultivate extensively, carrots, turnips, potatoes, rhubarb, and similar roots. Premiums were awarded for agricultural machines. Special attention was paid to oaks, gold medals being awarded to those who planted them in great numbers. But other trees for timber were not neglected. Timber was of more consequence at that time than it is now, when coal has so far superseded it, and iron is produced with less consumption of wood.

The Society patronized bee-keeping, and attempted, in 1786, to establish

the breeding of silk-worms. Harvesting and reaping have always been prominent among the processes whose improvement it has attempted.

Not least among its benefits to agriculture, is the establishment of branch societies throughout the country, from which many of the county agricultural societies have originated.

At first, premiums were not awarded to persons living in Ireland and Scotland, as these countries had Societies of their own, but this rule was afterwards abolished.

The agriculture of the Colonies, of which the United States was then one, was fostered by the care of the Society, and many spices and trees were naturalized in various territories, such as cinnamon in Jamaica, the nutmeg in St. Vincent, the clove-tree in Trinidad, bread-fruit in the West Indies, and the mango in Barbadoes.

Hemp was made a special study, and costly experiments were instituted with a new variety, imported from China.

The wool-growing capabilities of New South Wales, now so important, were first made known by the Society.

The fish trade was fostered, and a regular supply to the London markets established. This is no small matter to the health and comfort of all classes, and especially of the laboring population.

In manufacturing industry, the extraordinary perfection of the spinningwheels, and the winding, doubling, and twisting machines for linen, cotton, &c., is directly due to the premiums offered for these inventions.

Calico-printing was thoroughly studied and improved, under the stimulus of its premiums and publications. The straw-plait trade of England was created by the Society, by the encouragement of schools where the art was taught.

The art of purifying fish-oil; of making point-lace, which was particularly recommended to young English women of small fortunes; mill-stones and handmills, safe-cranes for hoisting goods, crucibles and melting pots, internal navigation-the history of all these shows how varied and universally useful this Society has always been, by stimulating inquiry, by setting experiments on foot, and by publishing frequent essays.

In 1852 it began the publication of a weekly Journal, now in its eighteenth year, with many articles on varied topics.

Exhibitions have been from the first year of its existence a prominent feature in the Society's scheme. At first these exhibitions were confined to the drawings and copies of the candidates for the prizes for copying. Other artists then applied for permission to exhibit their works in the Society's rooms, and these exhibitions were held for several years, with great success. The result was that a spirit of emulation was stimulated, which greatly advanced British art. The first mechanical exhibition held by the Society was of hand-mills for grinding corn, sent in to compete for premiums in 1801. The Fairs and Bazaars held in Birmingham, Manchester, and especially that in London in 1846, were assisted by the offer of prizes of the Society; and in its rooms, and under the lead of its President, Prince Albert, the Great Exhibition of 1851 originated. The Society obtained a guarantee fund of £400,000 for the Exhibition of 1862, nominated the Royal Commissioners and secured their charter of incorporation, and thus originated it. In 1867 the Society paid the expenses of a visit by a large delegation of workingmen, representing different branches of

industry, to the Paris Exhibition, whose reports attracted much attention, especially their comments on the superiority of the technical and artistic instruction enjoyed by the artisans of Paris over those of Great Britain.

The exhibition of educational appliances which took place in 1854 through the Society, was due to the energy of one of its most prominent members, Mr. Harry Chester.

Among the benefits secured by it, must not be forgotten the improved patent law, by which patents were greatly cheapened. Exhibitions of patents were held for several years after the institution of these new laws, and a library and museum of patents were formed, the power being given them by an act secured by the Society.

It has always endeavored to improve the scientific training of artisans. It sent a number of them to the last Universal Exhibition at Paris, paying the expenses of the trip. It has established a course of lectures upon the relations of science and art to industry, a bequest of Dr. Cantor in 1856, amounting to about $25,000. Let us here remark, in passing, that its funds are derived from the voluntary payments of the members, and such bequests as have been added to it from time to time. It has never received government grants.

The preceding brief sketch of the achievements of the Society will give some idea of its vast and varied activity. The sketch is incomplete.

The operations of the Society, consisting of over 3,000 members, embraced in 1869 the following particulars :

1. Regular meetings for the reading of papers, and discussions on the same, from the first Wednesday in November to the last in June, on subjects relating to inventions, improvements, and discoveries in the useful arts.

2. The publication of a weekly Journal, devoted to the proceedings of the Society, and of affiliated Institutions, and to the promotion of the arts generally, which is sent free to the members.

3. The maintenance of a Library and Reading Room, devoted to publications on the arts.

4. Conversationi, held from time to time, on occasions of society and public interests.

5. Courses of lectures, established by legacy of Edward Cantor, delivered every fortnight, free to members and persons introduced by them, on the arts, the applied sciences, commerce, and industry generally.

6. Scheme of examination of candidates, from classes in the three hundred Institutions in union, conducted by men eminent in science and the arts, by which the deficient early instruction and further scientific education of a practical character is provided, and stimulated by prizes and chances of promotion in business among the adult population.

7. The administration of scholarships, exhibitions, and prizes, instituted by the Society, companies, and individuals, on Political and Social Economy, Wood and Ivory Carving, Modeling, Glass-engraving, Fruit and Vegetable Culture, Preservation of Meat for Food, Leather-Embossing and Ornamentation, and discoveries, improvements, and inventions in the Arts generally.

8. The advancement of scientific and industrial instruction, and the better education of the people generally, by papers read at the regular meetings, a special conference, and publications in the Journal.