over the whole country, not to
speak of the House of Commons, are unpaid. At this very moment there
are springing up here and there in East London actual
monasteries--only without monastic vows--in which live young men who
devote themselves, either wholly or in part, to work among the poor,
often to evening and night work after their own day's labours. It is
no longer a visionary thing; it is a great and solid fact, that there
are hundreds of men willing, without vows, orders, or any rule, and
without hope of reward, not even gratitude, to live for their brother
men. They give, not their money or their influence, or their
exhortations, but they give--_themselves_. Greater love hath no man.
As for us, we shall not ask our teachers to give their whole time,
unless they offer it. One or two evenings out of the week will
suffice. I am convinced--you are all, I am sure, convinced--that there
will be no difficulty at all in getting teachers, but that the only
difficulty will be in selecting those who can add discretion to zeal,
capability to enthusiasm, skill and tact in teaching, as well as a
knowledge of an art to be taught. Think of the Working Men's College
in Great Ormond Street--perhaps you don't know of this institution. It
is a great school for working men; it teaches all subjects, and it has
been running for nearly thirty years. During the whole of that time, I
believe I am right in saying that the professors and teachers have
been all unpaid--they are volunteers. Can we fear that in Art, in
which there are so many enthusiasts, we shall not get as much
volunteer assistance as in Letters and Science?

This, then, is my proposal for creating and developing an enthusiasm
for Art. There are to be schools everywhere, controlled by local
committees, under a central society; there are to be volunteer
teachers, willing to subject themselves to rule and order; there are
to be public exhibitions and prize-givings; all the arts, not one
only, are to be taught; great prominence is to be given to the minor
arts; at first there will be no fees; above all and before all, the
great College of ours is not to be made a Government department, to be
tied and bound by the hard-and-fast rules and red tape which are the
curse of every department, nor is it to be under the direction of any
School Board, but, like most things in this country that are of any
use, it is to be governed by its own council.

One thing more. I am firmly convince