The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-26 00:00:00

weights and measures indispensable to their position.
He would have an examination of reading, writing,
spelling, and the four rules of arithmetic ; and this
proposal of his concerns two classes—those who
already have the requisite knowledge and those who
have not. The first of these divisions would include
all the members of the professions, the clerks in
commercial houses, the sons of shopkeepers
who live with their fathers, the shopkeepers
assistants, &c. All these classes already possess the
requisite knowledge, and a good many of the work-
ing classes may also be included in the computation.
As for the working men who cannot come up
to the necessary standard, they cannot com-
plain of the exclusion. Mr. CLAY says,
from a long and intimate acquaintance with
the subject, that it only requires a working
man of average intelligence to devote his leisure
hours for three or four months to the acquirement
of the knowledge necessary to pass the examination to
gain it with ease. No man, therefore, can reasonably
claim to influence the legislation of the country
who is not willing to devote this time and trouble to
a little mental training. We fear, however, that
there will be some difficulties in the way of any such
measure. Objections will be raised against any
departure from the ordinary routine, and there
will be prejudices of various kinds to con-
quer and overthrow. Still it is quite cer-
tain that our representative system can never
be permanently settled at the limit of a par-
ticular rental, when every year in our populous
cities the number of intelligent, conscientious, and
educated men who are now householders is on the

increase.

The paper read by Lord HENRY LENNOX, in the
Hall of the Society of Arts on Wednesday evening,
was very interesting, and its subjeet was one which
could not fail to attract. " The Uses of National
Museums to Local Institutions" is a question which,
at the present day, can hardly fail to meet with
serious attention, for we are becoming more and
more alive to the necessity of improving our posi-
tion respecting those matters, and of keeping
pace with foreign countries in all those matters
in which we have lagged behind. Lord H. LEN-
NOX'S remarks appear to be very sensible in most
points connected with this important subject, and
he takes a very fair view of the state of the
case, both particularly and generally. It is now
a quarter of a century since this subject was first
mooted in the House of Commons, and among
others Mr. JOSEPH HUME condemned the manner
in which these national collections were conducted.
It has happened, however, that up to this period
nothing effectual has been done on this subject,
although from time to time many suggestions have
been made, and Parliamentary Committees and
Royal Commissions have advised the adoption of
various changes. Several causes have led to this

inactivity in high places, but, as the noble lord stated,
we may now consider that the case is much altered.
Mr. PANIZZI, who is the chief officer at
the British Museum, has resigned, and only continues
to -hold his appointment until matters have been
arranged in a suitable manner.
We cannot doubt that the Government have at
last awoke to the knowledge of their responsibilities,
and that they are fully determined to do something
in a definite form. It is therefore evident that now
is the time for a careful consideration of the subject,
in order that the proposed changes may be conducted
in a manner that will redound to our credit as a
nation, and to the interests and instruction of the
community. It is a curious coincidence that the
National Gallery has also lost its chief by the death
of Six CHARLES EASTLAKE, and here additional
reasons are found for alluding to these institutions,
and for making plans and forming projects for their
alteration and improvement. The time had indeed
arrived when some amelioration in our system was
loudly called for, and as the noble lord very truly
said in his comprehensive paper, " While the
governing bodies of the national collections have
been slowly jogging along, or rather standing
stock-still, regardless of the wants of the age, and
apparently blind to the vast changes that are every
day taking place around them, the public taste for
the beautiful and scientific has remained equally
stagnant. Unaided by Government support,
and untutored by those who should be the
promoters of knowledge and the refiners of
the public taste, the general tone of the community
has been elicited, and the want of mind is every-
where discernible in the most striking and satisfac-
tory manner. In several quarters of London
strenuous efforts have been made to establish local
museums; but they met with no success, on account
of the apathy and indifference of those who should
have fostered and encouraged them.
Lord H. LENNOX was not flattering certainly, but
he was a faithful portrayer of circumstances which,
he said, the British Museum was the same as it had
been 50 years ago, and not at all in consonance
with the wants and requirements of the age, and
cannot be called " educational." The reading-
rooms and library are closed at dusk, just when
they would be most useful to a numerous class.
Most mistaken views have been taken of their
responsibilities by the Trustees of the British
Museum, and they totally ignore that they are
called upon to support and encourage branch
institutions in Liverpool, Manchester, Dublin, &C.
The management of the Museum at South Kensing-
ton offers a commendable example in this respect,
and it has been recognised by the Parliamentary
Committee as most efficient in promoting the im-
provement of the public taste.
The plan of circulating pictures is very advan-
tageous to the provincial student, and it may readily
be conceived bow vast is the gain thus afforded to
those who have no other means of studying diffe-
rent styles. As for the objection which might be
raised by the Directors of the National Gallery, that
damage and disaster would arise in consequence
of the removal of the pictures, the noble lord
briefly disposes of that by referring to the
fact that the two most remarkable of modern
pictures, FRITH'S " Derby Day" and ROSA BON-
HEUR'S " Horse Fair," that were confided to
the keeping of the trustees of the National
Gallery, have been allowed to leave this
country, and to encounter perils by land and water
in travelling round the globe " for the benefit of a
distinguished publisher." After referring to the
death of the late lamented Sir CHARLES EASTLAKE,
and the great loss thereby sustained by the
National Gallery and the Royal Academy, the
noble lord said that he had on more than one occa-
sion heard Sir CHARLES express himself on the
various " controverted points" relating to art, and
he felt convinced that the " principle of irre-
sponsible Boards without Parliamentary chiefs
met wiai no sympathy from him." The
trustees of the National Gallery, however, are
not nearly so formidable a body as the trustees of
the British Museum, who are hedged in and fenced
round with conventionalities, until, as is appropri-
ately said of them, they "form a board which, in
the words of JEREMY BENTHAM, is a screen." The
nation at large has acted very differently to the ex-
clusive mode adopted by the guardians of the
treasures in Bloomsbury, and, following the example
of the QUEEN, nearly all the chief objects in the
principal collections of the country haye from time l'