The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-04 00:00:00

Sir S. H, Northcote, 31,P , on. Art.

The annual meeting of the Exeter School of Art was
held on Monday in the Market-house, Exeter. Sir S.
Northcote, the President, was in the chair, and among
those present were Sir John Bowring and the High Sheriff
of Exeter (Mr. Cooper).
Sir STAFFORD NORTHCOTE said he believed the trea-
surer's statement might be taken as read, the substance
having been given in the able report just read by Mr.
Westcomb ; and, that being so, it now became his (Sir
Stafford's) duty to move, in accordance with the usual cus-

tom, that the report be received and adopted. He thought
that they would agree with him that the report presented
many points of interest, and was, on the whole, one which
ought to give the greatest satisfaction. (Hear.) They could
not help feeling that the present was a time which, both as
regarded the cause of education generally, and as regarded
the circumstances of Exeter in particular, might be said to

have been rather a critical time, but at the same time he

might say that they hoped it was a crisis which would lead
to prosperity. (Hear.) They knew, and indeed it had been

referred to in the report, that art education in this country
had this year been upon its trial. He was not quite sure

that he ought not, as president of the committee of that in-

stitution, to have taken exception earlier, but at all events
he was bound to take exception now to the particular terms
in which the committee appointed during the past session
of Parliament had been alluded to. The report, which they
had heard read, spoke of it as a committee which was ap-
pointed for the purpose of inquiring into certain grievances
which had been alleged to be felt by the masters of schools

of art, in consequence of the minutes which were passed by
the Department for the Promotion of Practical Art last

year. He was bound to say that that was not quite correct,
and certainly not an adequate description of the functions
of that committee. It is quite true that complaints were
made by the masters of the operation of some portions of
those minutes, and they were the moving cause of the ap-
pointment of that committee, but the committee itself took

a much wider range. (Hear, hear.) It was appointed not
for the purpose of inquiring into this or that complaint, or

into a portion of those particular minutes, but for the pur-
pose of inquiring generally into the constitution, manage-
. .

ment, working, and success of schools of art which were

partially aided by the Government, and thereby to inquire
into the principles upon which the money voted in Parlia-
ment for the promotion of art education was expended—in
point of fact, they took a review of the whole of that por-
tion of the department of Government which was charged
with the promotion of art education, from the commence--

me7F-to the time of their appointment. examined They.
into the working of the whole system, and the difficulties
attending it, and those who would take the trouble to refer
to that report would find that the committee went rather
fully into the history of schools of art from their founda-
tion, but more especially from the time when a Parliamen-
tary committee before sat on the subject, in the year 1849,
and that they inquired into all the particulars connected
with their working, and into the evidence which could be
given as to the general effect of art education in this
country. (Hear, hear.) The general result was that they
found the position of affairs had materially changed within
the past 20 or 30 years-20 or 30 years ago the question
which was asked of them was whether it was possible to
educate the people of England in art. (Hear, hear.)
Now, the question was no longer could they do it, but
it was would they do it, and to what extent would they
do it. This was the only question now, for that it had
been done, and was now being done, was clear to every
one—he was going to say, who would keep his eyes open
and observe what was passing around him—but certainly
to anyone who would. examine the evidence which had
been laid before the Parliamentary committee. They would
see, too, he thought, that, although a considerable sum of
the public money was expended on this object, the evi-
dence satisfactorily showed that this money had been well

expended, and that considerable advantage had followed
from it. (Cheers.) The encouragement of art-education
had accomplished great objects ; it had enabled us to ascer-
tain that which was previously a disputed point, thut the
Englishman had as good a mental capacity for producing
works of art as the native of any other country—(hear)—
that the English people might be taught and their taste
cultivated as much as other nations could be—(hear, hear)
—and it had been shown by the evidence of manufacturers
that what had been achieved had told most materially for
the benefit of the manufacturers of this country. Inquiry
had also shown that there-were difficulties in the working
of the system, and difficulties in the way of its extension.
It stood to reason that the system continued as it was at

its commencement would not be suitable when its work
had become more matured, just as the 'leading strings
that were servieable in infancy became ultimately a

nuisance and an inconvenience. It became necessary
for the same reason that the system of art education—

not because it was unsuccessful, but because it had been
successful—should be modified in regard to the details
of its working, so as to enable it to attain its object.
(Cheers.) Originally the work was begun with a small
number of schools, founded chiefly at the expense of the
Government, maintained and directed by the Government.

After a time the work was extended—towns in which

schools were desired were allowed to have them established
by themselves; and the system was enlarged in order to
cover the new field of operations. But art education had

spread so rapidly that a very large additional expenditure
by the Government was necessitated, and with a further
extension an increased minute superintendence must be in-
volved if Government aid were continued; and the difficul-
ties inseparable from centralisation would be augmented.
It was therefore of importance to see where the alterations
needed should be made. When the Government expended
large sums of money in promoting education it was neces-
sary that certain tests should be laid down, in order to as-
certain that the money was properly spent; and the greater
the area of operations the more rigid must be the tests, and

:he more difficult the working of the systems.

For this

reason, in regard to primary education, the Government
was obliged, in self-defence, to have recourse to the plan
of what was termed, " paying on results," in order to pro-
vide that their expenditure should be properly laid out ;
but this was introducing a principle which must obviously
hamper the liberty of education, for many important re-
sults of education could not be tested. Two schools might
be equally advanced, and yet one of them might be effect-
ing considerably more good than the other, and yet the
good so done might be such as could not be submitted to
the test of results.- If this were the case with reference to

general education, how much more so would it be the case
in art education ? To judge fairly by results the Govern-
ment found it necessary to prescribe nearly the same copies
for all schools, and required great uniformity in order to
see more readily which pupil came up to a certain standard.
Now in reading, writing, and arithmetic there was no doubt
great uniformity, but in art training there ought to be more
elasticity and license as to results, for if a master were
cramped by being compelled to direct the production over
and over again of the same copies, such a course detracted
from the advantage to be derived from allowing the master
to travel out into his own line, and from encouraging stu-
dents in those branches of art that it may be peculiarly de-
sirable that, from their profession, their position, or their
method of overcoming difficulties, they should cultivate.
The Government had felt that difficulty, and endeavoured,
as far as possible, to meet it by introducing in the various
schools a large number of subjects, in order to give the
greatest possible amount of scope to both master and stu-
dent. In that way they had introduced a system which,
whatever might be its other merits, certainly did not pos-
sess the merit of simplicity. (Hear, hear.) This was the
state of affairs when the Parliamentary Committee, of
which he was the chairman, came to inquire into it. The
opinion they came to was that the work of imparting cul-
ture could be simplified by taking care that the manage-
ment of the local committee was efficient, by giving the
pupils free play for their own energies, and by allowing in
the system as little interference as possible with the efforts
of the masters. (Hear, hear.) This course has been recom-
mended, and a new code of regulations would be submitted
to Parliament that would tend, at any rate to set• the
schools more free than they were. Another point at-
tained had been that attention which had been drawn to
complaints made, not altogether without reason, of the un-
equal division of funds between the central institution at
South Kensington and the provinces, although it should be
considered that the institution had an immense influence
upon the country. The managers of the Art Department
were most anxious that more should be done in the circu-
lation of works of art collected there, and that more should
also be done in the promotion of schools in the provinces,
and he (Sir Stafford) believed that a great deal more would in
a few years be effected in disseminating the advantages of
the central institution, although more was being done than
some persons perhaps were apt to think. Expensive foreign
works of art had been purchased by the Government at large
prices ; and these had been lent, or copies or oasts had been
made of them, so that they had been reproduced and rendered
saleable at prices fabulously low. Mr. Cole mentioned to the
committee an instance in which a majolica plate, originally
purchased by the State for £2OO, was lent to Messrs.blinton
and had been reproduced so as to sell at3ss. ; and when the
copy was compared with the original there were hardly
any members of the committee who professed to know
which was which. (Cheers.) In this way it would be sought
to circulate those valuable articles that would create a
taste for art which fine works of art were capable of engen-
dering. It must therefore be acknowledged that the South
Kensington Department was doing a great deal of good in
the country. Mr. Cole had suggested a plan of organising
a system under which fine works of art could be lent from
thebgreat national institutions centralised at London to the
different provincial museums for limited periods; and by
an arrangement of this nature, which ho had no doubt
would ultimately be carried out, works of art that might be
spared from the metropolis and other places could be ex-
changed or lent, so as to enrich the museums of the coun-
try and add novelty as well as contribute to the spread of
knowledge-and art, and of objects of interest. The more
the department of South Kensington was stirred up the
better, and he did not regret having been on the commit-
tee that had called them to account for having monopolised
too much of the Parliamentary grant. The only way to
meet the present difficulties attaching to the schools of art
was to have a more enlightened local management, and
a selection should be made of such managers only as would
take an interest in art, and so qualify themselves as to jus-
tify their holding the trust. He hoped that interest would