The Sun.
London, England, 1852-11-25 00:00:00

THE DEPARTMENT OF PRACTICAL ART.

Yesterday, Mr. Cole, the general superintendent of
this new department of the Board of Trade, opened the
session with an address on the facilities afforded by the
department to all classes of the community in obtaining
education in art. The first portion of his lecture was
directed to an explanation of the position which the de-
partment occupied with reference to the public and the
Government. The confidence of the former it sought
to conciliate, by laying aside everything like official re-
serve in its management, by the adoption, as far as
possible, of the self-supporting principle, by using every
means to attract general attention to its proceedings,
and by endeavouring gradually to defray its expenses
less and less from the Treasury of the country and more
and more out of the pockets of the persons who came to
receive instruction. Its present dependence on Govern-
ment aid he defended on the plea of necessity alone, con-
sidering that the ultimate success of art education must
depend upon its being made to pay its own expenses.
Mr. Cole gave an interesting resume of past experiences
on this subject, laying it down as the strongest deduc-
tion therefrom that, in order to improve manufactures,
the earliest work was to elevate the art education of the
whole people. The Government, he said, had at length
broadly affirmed the principle that an elemenrary know-
ledge of foi in and colour should become part of the na-
tional education. The department was therefore gradu-
ally carrying out a system by which it was hoped that
all schools in the United Kingdom, even the most humble,
would be enabled to acquire this elementary knowledge.
He explained the steps that had already been taken by
the preparation and distribution of examples and models,
chiefly with eleemosynary institutions, and expressed
his sanguine expectations that it would not be long be-
fore the institutions for the education of the upper and
middle classes made the teaching of form and colour part
of their course. He alluded to the interest which Dr.
Hawtrey, at Eton, and Mr. Liddell, at Westminster,
took in the subject, and said it was not likely that such
men would be satisfied to allow the schools which
they directed to be surpassed in art, education, by
the National Schools in their immediate neighbour-
hood.
From elementary instruction, as a part of
general education, Mr. Cole anticipates the formation
of distinct schools for carrying the practice of
art still further, and these schools, thus naturally arising
out of a sense of their necessity and value, would, he
hoped, be frequented by all classes, and gradually be-
coate connected with local museums and libraries. He
then passed to the subject of advanced schools for tech-
nical art education, and to the special classes of that
kind established at Marlborough-house. He gave an
interesting account of what they were doing, and drew
particular attention to the fact that they were carried on
upon the principle of making the students pay, as far as
possible, for the instruction received. Referring to the
Duke's funeral car as having been designed at Marlbo-
rough-house, he justly observed, " that, although the
car was essentially a reality in its materials, it was per-
haps less a reality viewed en true aesthetic principles,
than a simple bier borne by soldiers would have been,
and less impressive than the Duke's horse with
the dangling empty boots." Mr. Cole described
the steps which had been taken by the depart-
ment to form a library and museum, and render
them as useful and possible to the students. He
strongly advocated the concentration of the public
museums, in order that an extended public use
might be made of the specimens which they contained ;
and he hinted that the time was not far distant when
this would be effected. Unless museums and galleries
were made subservient to purposes of education, they
dwindled into very sleepy and useless institutions. After
praising the frankness and cordiality with which Mr.
Henley had supported the cause of art education, Mr.
Cole concluded by stating that, as far as practical on
self-supporting principles, the department would endea-
vour to encourage and assist, but not supersede, all local
efforts to introduce education in the elements of form and
colour into schools of all kinds ; to promote the esta-
blishment of special schools for the practice of advanced
studies ; to afford instruction in the specialties of manu-
facture, so far as they regulated the nature of the art to
be applied ; and, lastly, to establish a central museum of
arts and manufactures applicable to direct instruction.
In all these various objects the principle would be to give
assistance half-way, but no further.

THE UNION FREEHOLD LAND AND BUILDING SOCIETY.
—Yesterday evening a very full meeting of the above in-
stitution was held at the National Hall, High Holborn,
for the purpose of explaining the nature and objects of
the institution, and the enrollment of new members. W.
F. Laxton, Esq., F.S.A., in the chair. On the platform
were Mr. Bishop, Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Pooke,
and several other influential members of the Board of
Guardians of the Holborn Union ; and after a series of
resolutions had been proposed by Mr. Breeze, Mr. Chit-
tenden, Mr. Jones, Mr. Smith, and Mr. Matthews,
several new members were admitted, and a vote of thanks
having been passed to the chairman, the meeting broke
up, apparently highly gratified by the already prospering
progress of the society.
COLLISION IN THE RIVER.—GRAVESEND, Nov. 24.
The Nautilus barque, from Cronstadt, arrived this after-
noon with loss of figure-head, foretopmast, maintop.
gallant-mast, bowsprit, &c., having been run foul of by
the iron schooner Admiral Drake, bound for the north,
in the Lower Hope ; the latter sunk soon after the col-
lision, her crew having got safely on board the Nautilus.
MR. PEARCE, THE BUILDER.—The report that Mr
Jeremiah Pearce, builder, of Hart-street, Covent-garden
died from the effects of injuries received at Chelsea Hos-
pital, on the 13th, is contradicted. The cause of his
death was, according to the medical certificate, diseased
lungs—and of very long standing.