recognised stamp of merit akin to that which is conferred at the Universities for scholarship: such a distinction would be both acceptable and useful, and the proposal is deserving of consideration. (See Appendix F.)

The National Scholarships, of which there are twelve, were established to enable advanced students, who have given evidence of special aptitude for design, to prosecute their studies for a time in the Training School and Museum at South Kensington. The competition for these scholarships takes place in February and September, and students already engaged in designing for or producing works of artmanufacture are regarded as the most eligible candidates. When elected they receive free instruction, and allowances for maintenance varying from 20s. to 40s. a week, according to their merit, and they generally remain at South Kensington two years; the appointment may be renewed for a third year in cases of great proficiency. National scholars and students in training may also in special cases receive grants to assist them in visiting foreign schools and galleries.

From 1863 to the present time 145 National Scholars, including five female students, have been received at the National Art Training School. Of this number 90 left it to enter upon engagements as designers, modellers, draughtsmen, decorators, &c., in connection with various art industries; 9 were employed in the like capacities by the Department of Science and Art; 14 received appointments as masters or assistant masters of Schools of Art; 2 met with their death by drowning, in one case while attempting to rescue a fellow-creature; 2 died, 2 resigned, and I was dismissed before the period of training expired; respecting 8 others there is no information; and the remaining 17 are still in training at South Kensington. (See Appendix G.) Of those who steadily devoted their attention to the object for which they were trained many have since become distinguished for the excellence of their work, a fact which is the more gratifying when it is remembered that they have for the most part risen from a comparatively humble position.

The following table shows the Schools of Art from which the National Scholars have been supplied :--

*The Schools of Art at Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme are bracketed together, as they have been continuously under one master.

I

22

2

I

I

I

2

THE SOUTH KENSINGTON MUSEUM.

In a work designed to record the progress of our Schools of Art, distinct and prominent mention should be made of the inestimable advantages derived by students from the superb collection of examples, in all departments of art-workmanship, to be found in the South Kensington Museum. To state that the Museum contains priceless treasures handed down to us from mediæval times and the still remoter past, in the precious metals, in bronze, in sculpture, ceramics, textiles, &c.; that it is equally rich in more modern examples, gathered from every quarter of the globe; that, in addition to the objects permanently acquired, the glass cases of the Loan Court are continually being replenished with the choicest objects from private collections; that special loan exhibitions of the highest interest have frequently been held, illustrating particular departments of art industry; that there is connected with the Museum an art library of 50,000 volumes, with a most extensive collection of drawings, prints, and photographs; and that all these are accessible to the public on the easiest and most inviting conditions, is to give but an outline of the advantages conferred by the South Kensington Museumand, in a degree, by the offshoot at Bethnal Green, to which the more modern objects, of a date subsequent to 1851, are consigned-not only upon Schools of Art, but upon manufacturers and the public at large, by keeping constantly before their eyes a series of objects of the highest value, as examples to be followed and emulated by those who desire to attain eminence in design or workmanship. Here, again, England has been as far behind other nations in point of time as she has been rapid in the accumulation of a collection which in some departments is unequalled for its excellence. Some continental States were well in advance of us in this respect, until Sir Henry Cole set himself to the accomplishment of what became the chief aim of his life-the creation and extension of the

Museum over which he so long and so efficiently presided, and in the direction of which the country has for the last ten years had the advantage of the services of an equally able and earnest successor in Sir Philip Cunliffe Owen.

Under a minute of the Education Department prepared in 1862, at the instance of the Right Hon. R. Lowe, it was directed that purchases for the Museum should be "confined to objects wherein fine art is applied to some purpose of utility, and that works of fine art not so applied should only be admitted as exceptions, and so far as they may tend directly to improve art applied to objects of utility"; and the Parliamentary grants, sometimes bestowed with too niggard a hand when "sparing at the spigot" has been the economy of the hour, have accordingly been expended with great care, the fine art collections to be found in some of the galleries being special gifts and bequests to the nation. From time to time there have been those who have complained of the outlay on the South Kensington Museum, but it would be difficult to point to any item of public expenditure that has been more fruitfully productive, for it has been the means of inducing patriotic donors to add to its collections gifts of inestimable worth in an artistic sense, and of great intrinsic value. In his report for the year 1882, Sir Philip Owen, recording the acquisition of the superb collection bequeathed to the nation by the late Mr. John Jones, of Piccadilly, stated that it had been valued by experts at a quarter of a million sterling, a sum which, at the time when the bequest was received, had been but slightly exceeded by the national outlay on original art objects from the beginning of the Museum collections in 1852. And this is only one of many gifts, amongst which may be mentioned Mr. J. Sheepshanks' gallery of pictures by British artists, valued in 1870 at £90,000; the bequest of the Rev. Chauncy Hare Townshend, consisting of paintings, gems, precious stones, cameos, prints, &c., valued at £23,000; the bequest of the Rev. Alexander Dyce, including paintings, miniatures, drawings, engravings, manuscripts, and upwards of 13,000 printed books, valued at

£20,000; and Mr. John Forster's library and collection, a bequest of the highest literary interest. The goodwill of various foreign nations has also been manifested by the gift of some important contributions, such, for example, as the historic collection of Japanese pottery and porcelain, formed by the Japanese Government expressly for this Museum. Thus, whilst its educational value cannot well be over-estimated, those who bring everything to the test of market value have the satisfaction of knowing that the Museum is at the present moment worth more than twice as much as has been paid for it. It should also be stated that its usefulness is extended to the provinces, by loans of objects to local museums-of which several have been established, mainly through the instrumentality of Sir Philip Owenand to art exhibitions, and thus their influence on public taste is greatly extended. Reciprocal arrangements are also made by which there is a courteous and serviceable interchange of artistic loans between this country and continental states.

The advantages conferred by the Museum on distant localities, by the circulation of selected objects of artworkmanship, are very great and increasingly acceptable. The Museum, opened at Marlborough House in 1852, was removed to South Kensington in 1857; but previous to this (in 1855) a small but comprehensive collection of about 430 specimens of art-manufacture, and 150 framed drawings and photographs, was formed and sent successively, in that year, to Birmingham, Nottingham, Macclesfield, Norwich, and Leeds. This collection continued in circulation until the close of 1859, and a second collection, formed in 1860, remained in circulation until the middle of 1863. In February 1864 it was decided that all works exhibited in the central Museum which could be lent and removed with safety, should be available for temporary exhibition to the public in local Schools of Art; thenceforth the system of making a special selection of objects for each loan-collection sent out has been uniformly pursued, and its advantages have been extended to institutions