140
EXPOSITION AT VIENNA.
It is said of him, or by him, *" that he had witnessed the conversion, since 1852, of twenty limp Schools of Design into one hundred and twenty flourishing Schools of Art in the kingdom, and other schools like them had been established on the continent, in the colonies and the United States. For artisans, five hundred night-classes for drawing had been established ; one hundred and eighty thousand boys and girls were now [1873] learning elementary drawing, and one thousand two hundred and fifty schools and classes for Science had spontaneously sprung into existence. The South Kensington Museum had been recently founded, as a national centre for consulting the best "works of Science and Art, and as a store-house for circulating objects of Science and Art throughout the kingdom. While this Museum had been visited by more 12,000,000 visitors, it had circulated objects to one hundred and ninety- five localities, holding exhibitions, to which more than 4,000,- 000 local visitors had contributed above 93,000 pounds sterling.”
The happy result of the labor of Mr. Cole is spread over England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It is proposed to present him with a national testimonial. The idea was mooted in London last summer, and is a happy one; for, without doubt, his has been a life-long and ardent work in this special department of progress. That he still believes in it, the earnest words uttered by him at a provincial School of Art quite recently, bear witness.
Mr. Cole said people were still apt to look at Museums as mere collections of " things rare and curious—things for learned people only, for rich people only, for dilletanti only.
"The late Prince Consort and his followers looked at them from a different point of view—the point of view of Science and Art applied to Productive Industry.
" What did the architect do who wanted to learn his profession? He looked at buildings. What did Flaxman d° when he applied himself to pottery? He studied Greek pottery. What did Herbert Minton do to enable his manufactory to compete successfully with Sevres ? He collected and studied the master-pieces of Sevres. Why was Mr. Phillips, the jeweller, trusted to set jewels with good taste?