The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-02 00:00:00

The Albert Memorial Museum at Exeter.

The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of
the Albert Memorial Museum, at Exeter, took place
on Monday, when the main streets of the city were
decorated with flags, and gave tokens of a festive
day.. The site of the building is in Queen-street,
adjoining the Post-office, and it is to be devoted to
the purposes of a museum, library, reading-room,
and school of art for the people. The building is
erected in memory of the late Prince Consort; hence
its name, the Albert Memorial Museum. When
completed it will be a handsome structure of the
medieval style, 160 feet by 60 feet, with a general
elevation of 55 feet. It will be built of Pocombe
stone, relieved by Bath stone and limestone dress-
ings. There will be a room for the museum of
antiquities at one end, with a room for the natural
history department above it. A corridor will lead
from the lower museum to the library and the
reading-room, above which will be the school of art.
There will also be class rooms, a curator's room,
and librarian's room and porters' rooms. The en-
trances will be in the centre, and will consist of an
arcade of three arches, with polished granite shafts
with handsomely carved capitals. The chief en-
trance will lead to the great staircase, the centre
flight of which is to branch out on both aides and
lead to the main rooms of the building on that floor.
At -the top of the central staircase it is intended to
place the bust of the late Prince Consort in a niche
constructed for it. The windows are very artistic
and deeply embossed. That portion of the building
of which-the stone was laid on Monday is but two-
fifths of the completed building according to the
design, and temporarily is to be appropriated to the
purposes of a museum, though eventually for the
free library, and the two class rooms-behind the
entranct, staircase will be used for the public library
until other portions are completed. The frontage
of the building was given by Mr. R. S. Gard,
who performed the ceremony of laying the founda-
tion stone. Amongst those who took part in the
proceedings of Monday were the Mayor, the Earl of
Devon, Sir Stafford Northcote, M.P., Sir Lawrence
Palk, M.P., Lord Courtenay, M.P., Mr. T. Acland,
M.P., &c. In the evening a dinner was held at the
New London Inn, under the presidency of the
Mayor. The company included Sir Stafford North-
cote, M.P., Lord Courtenay, M.P., Mr. J. D.
Coleridge, M.P., Sir Lawrence Palk, M.P., Sir
John Bowring. In proposing " Prosperity to the
Institution," Sir Stafford Northcote said, whilst of
late years we had paid attention to the education
of the labouring and poorer as well as the middle
classes, we had been somewhat remiss in paying
proper attention to those branches of educa-
tion which were mainly connected with the
promotion of the natural sciences, and the study of
the laws of the world. And yet there was no coun-
try in which the study of those laws were of more
importance, materially and morally, than in Great
Britain. Materially, it had been felt of late that
they had a great battle to fight with their rivals in
other countries—that whereas some 50 years ago
England had the advantage over these foreign na-
tions of a greater accumulation of capital, and a
better system of machinery, andpossessed moreover
certain exclusive privileges from which other nations
were shut out—especially the great privileges
which they had enjoyed under the system of re-
striction and monopoly which they prescribed, and
which had enabled them to command the mer-
chandise of the world—it had been felt, he
A;a, that for many years other nations had been
gaining on them. They were accumulating capital,
and would soon be nearly a match for England in
that respect. Then as regarded the facilities of
transport throughout the world which their country
had enjoyed, the promulgation and acceptance of
the doctrine of free trade had, as it were, put all
nations on one footing in respect to what had been
considered the peculiar national advantages. The
pressure of foreign competition was being more and
more felt, and if Englishmen were to maintain
their position at the head of the manufacturing
nations of the world, it must be by the study of
those laws of nature and of art to which allusion
had been made, and the application of which must
be always felt to be of the greatest importance in
connection with their commerce and with their
manufacturing industry. It had been over and
over again pointed out by those who had attended
to these subjects—and he might appeal for confir-
mation of this fact to his friend Sir John Bowring,
who at a very early period had studied the subject,
and presented avert' valuable reportuponi
appeared to many if England wasmaintaint had
appeared herad
to
place amongst the great manufacturing countries
of the Continent, it was essential, and absolutely
necessary, that she should not fall behind in the
cultivation of science and art—the application
of which by her rivals would render them more
formidable ; but which, if England used
them, would render her irresistible. And there
was another view which had been pressed upon
them. It would be found in the evidence laid be-
fore the Commissioners on Public Schools, and by
the report of that Commission, that in order to
secure the proper education of their youth, in order
to develope properly all the faculties of the mind, it
was necessary not only to,cultivate the faculties of
reasoning, eloquence, and memory---to which tliPy
had perhaps paid too exclusive an attention—but