FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176  
177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   >>  
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
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176  
177   178   179   180   181   182   183   184   185   186   >>  



Top keywords:
teachers
 

convinced

 

difficulty

 

volunteer

 

country

 

department

 

College

 
taught
 

enthusiasm

 
unpaid

proposal

 

Science

 

creating

 

During

 

thirty

 
teaches
 

subjects

 
running
 

professors

 

enthusiasts


assistance

 
developing
 

volunteers

 

Letters

 

direction

 

School

 

council

 
firmly
 

convince

 

governed


things
 

Government

 
society
 

subject

 

public

 

central

 

committees

 

schools

 

controlled

 

exhibitions


givings

 

working

 

prominence

 
labours
 
longer
 

visionary

 
evening
 

gratitude

 

brother

 

reward