The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-04 00:00:00

Sir S tafford H, Northcote on. Art Progress

in England,

EXETER, Saturday.
At the annual meeting of the Exeter School of
Art, held last evening, the chair was taken by the
_ _

president, Sir Stafford Northcote, who delivered a

long and interesting address on the subject of art
education, and of the grants made by Government

to the schools of art throughout the country.
Sir S. NORTHCOTE, after referring to circumstances
connected with the Exeter School, said,—There is

one other point which has been mentioned in the

report upon which I am bound to say a few words ;
but it is a point upon which I wish to touch as

lightly as possible. Your attention has been called
to a change which has taken place in the arrange-
ments which Government has made with regard to

this school; and there is no doubt the alteration of

the minutes of the Committee of Council with re-

gard to the schools of art throughout the kingdom
will tell very seriously upon many of the masters
_ __ _

of those schnols, and especially, I am sorry to say,

it will tell upon those who are most deserving among
them. Especially it will tell upon such masters as
our own excellent master, Mr. Birkmyer, because
the old system was this—that the Government

required the masters to pass in one or more grades
of art. There were different grades, different
classes—for drawing, and for painting, and for
modelling, and so forth. If a master passed in
one grade ha had a fee of ten guineas a year
allowed to him ; if he passed in two grades, 20

guineas ; if in three grades, 30 guineas, and so forth•

Bat now the whole of that is swept away, and a

single uniform fee of 10 guineas is to be granted for
_ .

the report upon the school, and this will be given to
_ _

those who have passed in one grade in the examina-
tions as well as to those who have passed in four or

five grades. Now that certainly seems to be a hard-
ship, and it tells particularly hard upon such a mas-
ter as we have at present the good fortune to possess,
because Mr. Birkmyer has passed in several grades,
and the effect of this upon him will be very serious.
The Government also proposes to make certain alte-
rations with regard to the free students—to sweep
them away, in fact, very much in the same manner
in which they are sweeping away the pupil teachers

is a great many of our national schoole. The change
is very much analogous to that taking place in na-
tional schools ; and it is, at the first moment at all
events, felt as a very great hardship by the teachers
that they are thrown out of that which they had

expected, and which they had been legitimately en-
titled to expect, from the arrangements made by the
Government. It is very hard upon them, and they
feel it to be so, that they should suddenly have their

position altered. At the same time there is a good

deal to be said on the side of the Government.

Tnere is the necessity to introduce some economy
in the administration of this large grant which the
Government makes for the promotion of education
and of science and art ; and the time is coming when
it will be necessary that some alteration should be
made in the terms upon which these grants have
been given. Ido not wish now to enter into the
controversy which has arisen with respect to the
particular mode which they ought to adopt. I only
wish to remind you that it does fall very hardly,
-whether it ba right or not on the part of the
Government to take this step, upon such mas-
ters as our excellent master, Mr. Birkmyer.
And that circumstance affords an additional
reason for inducing us to make every effort to
prevent his being a sufferer. He and Mr. Wig-
zell (his predecessor) have done great things
for this school,—they have raised it to a highly
creditable position. They took it in hand at a
time when there was no i':ea in the city that we
could fill a school at all, cr support anything of the

kind; and they have shown that it is possible to
fill a school; that it is possible to produce very cre-
ditable results ; and they have produced a school
which, I am sure, Exeter ought to be proud of.
(Hear, hear.) We know; and Government will
probably tell us, that the change which they have
made in withdrawing some of the support hitherto
granted has been made upon this principle—that
they gave a certain amount of support in order to
set going the system of education throughout the
country; but now that it had been set going, and
now that the country is aware of its valee, it is time
they should draw back their hands and leave the
country to support that which has been started
among them, and to carry it on by themselves.
They will say also, no doubt, " We are proposing
to pay you by results; attain your results and you
will receive as much as you received before." Bat
in order to do that you must remember we want en_
lagged space; because you must be very well aware
that in this school we are quite cramped for room,
and that until we can be transplanted into a larger
room it will be impossible for the school to deveiope
itself as it ought to do. (Hear.) New, lam in great
hopes that when this Museum and School of Art,
which we are always talking about, and which we
begin now to see dimly looming before us—when
we see that turned from a shadow into a reality—
then I think we shall begin to see better days for
the School of Art, because we then shall be able to
grow and expand ourselves as we ought to do. I
hope by that change we shall get into a position
that will enable us to overcome the difficulties of
our position ; but in the meantime you must help
us, It is impossible we can get over the next two
or three years satisfactorily unless we receive
greater pecuniary assistance from the citizens of
Exeter Ulan hitherto, (Hear.) We find everybody
is now willing to acknowledge the services of the
school, but when it comes to the practical point of
asking them to subscribe, then I am sorry to say we
find a weak part. I hope that by printing and circu-
lating this annual report we shall obtain a larger
measure of support than hitherto. I do hope that
when this matter is prominently brought before the
citizens of Exeter they will take a noble and liberal
view of the question. Ido hope they will not look
at it in the narrow way in which we sometimes
hear it spoken of—that we shall not hear it said,
" Well, :Exeter is not a manufacturing town, Exeter
has not the same interest in the maintenance of a
school of art that Manchester, or Birmingham, or
any of the other great cities of industry in the
north have." I hope the citizens of Exeter will take
a larger and wider view of the question than that,
because this is a great national work. (Hear, hear.)
It is a work in which we are interested as members
of the English nation ; and I do feel there is a great
deal incumbent on us not to lose our place among
the people of this country—not to allow ourselves
to be put aside as being the unprogressive and un-
interested part of the nation—not to allow the
northern and midland counties, the great manufac-
turing counties, to take precedence of us and claim
a monopoly of interest in all that is interesting to
the nation. (Applause.) This matter is one that
often weighs upon me. I think there is a great
deal more in it than appears on the surface. YOU
remember some years ago there were persons, and
persons of some iafluence in this country, too, who
used to hold this sort of language; they would say
of England, "What is it you mean by England?
England is the manufacturing counties—the nor.
thern and midland counties ; es for the south and
west—the agricultural districts—we have nothing
to do with them." We heard that sort of language
used. There were persons who seemed disposed
actually to establish a separate community in the
northern and midland parts of England, and to
leave us in the south-west behind, as if we had no
interest in them. Now I sfq that is a position in
which we in the south and west ought never to
acquiesce. (Hear, hear.) It would be suicidal on
our part, and most injurious to this country, if we
were at all to allow ourselves to be left behind in
any great improvement for the general good of the
nation. (Applause.) I say the great strength cf
this country depends upon the union of all classes
among us. It depends upon our being all energetic,
noon oar doing what is good for the whole nation,
end ceasing to look merely to local and selfish in-
terests. (Hear, hear.) Remember this, we are all
Englishmen"—we are all interested in what is good
for the welfare and good of England. And if this
movement, or any other movement, is shown to be
good for tee nation at large, we ought to can,ider
ourselves equally interested in it as the people of
hr the manufacturing districts, or any
the noit, o
ether part of England whatsocv9r. witi e a sad
and fatal day fc& -:--,gla—"Ll if t 1.1122 '9llQuid

ever come when a foreigner could point to the map,
and drawing a line say, " Now, north of that line,
pr east of that line, there is the energet;c, the pro-
gressive, the enlightened part of England, and south
or west of that line is the dark and nnenergetic
and dull part of England." Such a [ieriod I hope
never to see. I hope rather to see all parts of Eng-
land, our own part especially, bearing their part in
that which is for the good of the nation. (Hear.)
And I venture to say this movement, which is now
claiming our sympathies, is one which has a very

strong claim upon the national interests. I venture
to say this because England has taken up art edu-
cation advisedly, and is reaping the most signal
benefits from it. (Hear.) When I say that Ide
not wish to go back over the old ground over which
I have trodden before upon occasions of this sort,
and to tell you the old story how it was these
schools originally came to be supported. But I
would wish to call your attention for a moment to
the general results which this movement has, I be-
lieve, had upon the trade and industry of the country.
There is something very remarkable in the present
condition of the trado of the country. Yc.o are all

generally aware that there never has been a time in

which the trade of the country has flourished so
greatly as during the last 20 years. I dare say you
are aware that even at the present moment, under
circumstances of very great difficulty, under the
circumstances of the paralysis of that which is the
great branch of our whole industry, the cotton
trade, the trade of England is as great, or even
greater than it was before. (Hear.) I believe that

when the returns of 1863 come to be made up it
will be found that the exports of British produce

are larger in the past year than in any year on re-
cord. (Hear.) That is extremely satisfactory. Bat
what is the cause of it ? I do not wish to weary

you with analysing all the figures; but I had the
other day occasion to look at some returns presented
to the House of Commons quite recently, out of
which I took some figures so remarkable that
I will request your permission to read them.
They are some figures comparing the exports
of England generally between the years 1840
and 1862. And I find this, that in the year
1840 the value of British manufactures exported in

a finished state was nearly £36,000,000, whereas in
1862 it was upwards of £82,000,000, the increase

being about 127 per cent. (Hear, hear.) That is
a story which we ail know, and very satisfactory
it is to the country at large. Bat I wished to go a
little further. I wanted to see how far that expor-
tation was due, or could in any way be attributed
to the exertions which have been made in England

of late years to improve the taste of our manufac-
tures. Therefore, I went a little carefully into those

statistics, and endeavoured to ascertain what had

been the incraase in those articles in the production

of which taste is particularly rEquired. It is not
very easy to separate those articles, because, o,

course, we know in a great many cases with regard
to cotton goods and woollens and many other things
that they are all put together in the returns; and

yet a large number of them may be articles upon
which a great deal of labour and a great deal of
taste have been bestowed. Therefore, all I could do

was to select from the list of general exports a few

artic:es which I believe you will admit are for the
most part articles upon the production of which
taste is particularly employed, I took the articles
of carriages ; of earthenware and porcelain, which
is an item particularly interesting, because it is
in her earthenware and porcelain that England
has especially made progress of late years ; furni-
ture, cabinet and upholstery wares ; glass manu-

factures, in which a great deal of beautiful work has
of late been done ; haberdashery and millinery,
which I suppose would depend a good deal upon the
taste of the country; pictures, plate, jewelry, and
watches: silk manufactures, piper hanging, and
toys—and taking these articles, upon which, as a
body, I presume our taste is particularly employed,
I found the value of those exported in 1840 was
£2,700,000, whereas in 1862 it was just above
£8,000,000, showing an increase of £5,250,000, or
about 196 per cent—(hear, hear, and applause—so
that I discovered that whi' e the general advance of
our manufactures in these twenty years had been
rather more than 125 per cent., it had been very
nearly 200 per cent. in those particular articles
which demand the exercise of taste. Now, I think
it is not a little remarkable that during, the very
time in which we have admitted the goods of all
other nations who were supposed to be so much our
superiors in taste to compete freely with us—while
we admitted the goods of France and of all other
countries where art has been encouraged for so
many years to come in free competition with our
own, we, nevertheless, have been able to export
those particular goods in respect of which we com-
peted with them—goods in the production of which
taste enters so largely—able to meet our rivals,
and to beat them upon the open ground. (Applause.)
If we had in any way increased our exports merely
by sending out raw materials, half manufactured
articles, or articles requiring no taste at all, but only
cheapness of production, we might have said that
England excels in having a greater quantity of coal
and iron, and those other elements which conduce
to cheapness; but when we are able to beat other
countries in articles dependent upon the taste be-
stowed upon their production, then I say you may
look with gratification on the work which we have
been doing in this country during the last 22 years
for the encouragement of the national taste. (Hear,
hear.) lam taking up a period which exactly syn-
chronizes with the movement for the Schools of
Design. It was in 1840, as Sir John Bowring will
tell you, that the fist steps were taken for the esta-
blishment of Schools of Design in this country, and,
looking at what has been done since, I say the result
is not a little remarkable in that respect. It proves
that the work we have been doing has not been an
idle one; that it is a work not unsuited to the
genius of the English people; that the English
people, if fairly taught, are as capable of develop•
ing taste and of producing works of good taste as
any other people under the sun. (Hear, hear.) And
I maintain that we have bestowed our time and our
labour well upon this work which we have been
carrying on, and that there is every encouragement
for us to carry it on still further. (Hear, hear.) I
have ventured to put the matter before you in a
national point of view, and to appeal to you and the
citizens of Exeter to take your part in this great
national undertaking, which I am quite satisfied is
of very great importance to the nation at large ; but
if we come down from the general, the high ground,
the national good, I wi.l appeal toyou also on behalf
of your own sons and daughters and the people of
your own city, and ask, is it not your duty to give
them the advantages of the education here afforded
to them ? Just consider what those advantages are;
what it is in your power to do for the children and
the young people of this city and neighbourhood.
We look upon the education in art in two points of
view : you look upon it as developing high genius,
which is given but to few ; you may look upon it
also as giving a very useful education to the great
bulk of mankind who have no claims to higher and
diviner genius ; but if you look at it under either
point of view you will see how great is its advantage
to young people. Yon will find in the lives of per-
sons possessed of real genius and who have struggled
and fought against great difficulties and have at-
' tained to eminence in science or in art,ahow very
much they gained by the few aids which they did
here and there receive; and you cannot help think-
ing, and sadly too, how many there must have been
who, perhaps with equal genius, have yet wanted
those few helps, those timely aids, and have thus
been lost to the country and to themselves. (Hear.)
And we say it is a great blessing that in schools like
these we may here and there be able to hold out to
the struggling genius a hand that may enable him
to climb the ladder. Even if that was all we were
able to do these institutions would be well worthy our
encouragement and support. But, then, when you
consider that that is not all they do, but that they also
render great assistance by giving a good sound edu-
cation to the great mass of those who attend them, I
think you will see they are valuable ; for double
art education is by no means to be despised even in
the case of those who are never likely to become
great or distinguished artists. Because, what do
they gain ? Ia the first place many handicrafts-
men and others can by the training they receive
here become better workmen and better able to
ezceute designs set Mere them. They themselves

THJ SUN. LUND°

may perhaps rise, without being very great
geniuses, to become• designers or improvers of de-
signs in the manufactures to which they devote
themselves. Even where that is not directly the
case I am quite satisfied there is no kind of educa-
tion that is better for the general education of man.
Education in drawing conduces to make men cer-
tain and correct in what they do. It induces them
to do that in the general education which writing
does in their intellectual education. It conduces
to make what a man does know certain. How often
do we see that a man if you explain anything to
him thinks he understands you, and that he
would perhaps give you a tolerably good answer if
you put questions to him; and yet if you ask him
to write down the matter upon which you have been
discoursing it appears that he does not thoroughly
understand it. Just in the same way is it with
drawing. A man takes notice of an object, and
thinking he knows all about it, goes away. But if
he tries to draw it, then he finds that there are
many points of it which he had not noticed, or of
which he has taken an incarrect impression. Draw-
ing, therefore, gives a man correctness of observa-
tion, which is one of the most valuable qualities of
education. (Hear, hear.) This view is confirmed
by the opinion of others who are better able to judge
than myself. I was very much struck, not long
ago, in the course of an inquiry which I and others
have been carrying on as to the public schools of
the country, by the answer of the very distin-
guished head master of a very celebrated school.
He was asked with regard to drawing, whether it
was taught in hie school. On his replying that a
number of boys had learnt drawing, he was asked
whether he found that the boys who had done so
were in any way assisted in their classical studies
by it. That was a question which seemed rather
curious at first, because it was thought that drawing
might take them from their classical studies. The
answer was that he had not the slightest doubt they
were assisted in their classical studies, because it
enabled them to realise to themselves many of these
things of which the classical poets wrote; that they
were accustomed to draw them from descriptions or
from pictures which were set before them ; and that
they thus obtained a much more accurate knowledge
than others not able to draw. That is the case with
all those studies which conduce to greater accuracy
of observation : they improve the mind—they im-
prove the intelligence of those who prosecute them.
(Hear, hear.) Therefore, I say, this is a study
which upon every ground deserves our support and
assistance; and I do hope the time is now long gone
by when people would look down with a contemp-
tuous sneer at drawing, as if it were no real part of
education. (Hear, hear.) I hope it is assuming a
serious and important place in the course of English
education which it will never lose. I hope that
what we have done wilt never go back, but rather
' go on gaining ground. (Loud cheers.)

RECOLLECTIONS OF THACKERAY :
And Tributes to him.