A.—9

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of such an institution as symbolical of the unity of the Empire and as a fitting memorial of the Jubilee year of Her Majesty's reign. At the other, over which the Lord Mayor presided, the city had an opportunity of making known its approval. No dissentient voice, or none worth listening to, was raised at either. There was nothing but unqualified approbation, of the project, and the realizing of it on a worthy scale ought now to be certain. At an earlier stage we took exception to some points of detail. Our criticisms have not been without effect. The scheme as it emerged from the committee was free from objections which might bo fairly urged against some of the plans for giving effect to the Prince of W Tales's suggestion, and we are glad to find that the scheme in its latest form is in so fair a way to triumph. It will be surprising if, after meetings so representative and important as those of yesterday, funds fail to come in. The speeches were, on the whole, worthy of the occasion. There was no attempt to magnify unduly the enterprise, to belittle it, or to invest it with an air of mystery. An institution which is to depend on voluntary offerings and subscriptions must have at least two qualities—it must have an intelligible object and be comprehensive enough to inspire pride and interest. Both belong to the scheme explained by the Prince of Wales at St. James's Palace. Every one understands, and can be proud of, an Institute emblematic of the unity of the Empire, illustrative of its diverse resources, the outward and visible sign of the greatness of the Empire in all its parts—which will be an industrial museum and much more; a centre of information and communication regarding our Indian possessions and the colonies and much more ; fairly representative of the industries of the Mother-country, and yet not conflicting with older institutions of tried utility. Such is the conception described by the Prince of Wales and other speakers, and it must strike every one that such a project is likely, as the Prince predicted, to be of lasting benefit to this and future generations. At times of jubilee the invention of loyal people is not always very happy or fruitful. Their sincerity is unquestionable; but the felicitous suggestion which would give a fit direction to sentiment is often wanting. The noisiest and the wildest plans may meet with undue favour because nothing better is suggested. Often accident determines the form in which loyal subjects give expression to their satisfaction and joy; and so large sums are unintelligently spent in dreary festivities or in building some erection which nobody wants and which posterity would rather be without. It matters not whether the occasion be the jubilee of a Sovereign or of a great man of letters, there is generally a deplorable lack of opportune ingenuity. Lord Granville complained in his speech at the Mansion House of the meagreness of the records of the jubilee of George 111. It is perhaps as well that there is little, at least in stone and lime, to recall it; the memorial would too probably either have been a monument of bad taste or have lacked appropriateness and novelty. Singing of bells and making of speeches, though all very well in their way, are not satisfying ; and now that we have no debtors to release what were we to do to symbolize an auspicious event? We owe to the excellent suggestion of the Imperial Institute not merely a useful work, but also in all probability immunity from some scheme which would not have worthily recorded a great era —great, so far as people can judge of things near and around them, in many qualities and diverse ways. It was right and seemly that speakers should dwell,"as most of them did both at St. James's Palace and at the Mansion House, on the suitableness of the memorial, which will be the counterpart of no existing institution. If worthy of the conception, the home of such an institution ought to take away a reproach which colonists are quick to mark. Where in London can a stranger come upon an edifice which would remind him that this was the capital of an Empire encompassing nearly one-fifth of the habitable globe ? What has architecture or art of any kind done to give form to the sentiment which binds together the different parts of the Empire ? This is a want not to be thought lightly of, and it was well that much should be said of the fitness of London containing a meet memorial of the unity of the Empire, never more apparent than in the Queen's Jubilee year. But there is another side to the matter. More than one speaker, including Professor Huxley and Mr. Mundella, made out a strong case for such an institution, as likely to be of signal practical utility. The former supported the Institute "as the first formal recognition of this great fact—that our people were becoming alive to the necessity of organization and discipline of knowledge." Mr. Mundella looked at the practical aspect of the undertaking when ho said, with reference to some ill-timed interruptions in the harmony of the meeting, that " much of the existing distress arose from the fact that our working people did not know how great was their inheritance and how vast was the field for their energies in the Empire over which their Sovereign ruled." The Chancellor of the Exchequer took the same view when he spoke of the expediency of seeing that the desire for emigration be " wisely directed, and that thal great outlet for our national activity may not be destroyed or weakened by an imperfect organization." At both meetings this argument was pressed, and there is much weight in it. Trade, we are beginning to find, is not so automatic as we have assumed. Goods do not go of themselves to the places where they are really needed; their owners must have the requisite knowledge. Customers mUst be created, taste must be educated, prejudices must be broken down. The maxim that "Trade follows the flag " expresses the truth, which the English producer and merchant begin to understand, that people in other lands are not born with a conviction of the excellence of English goods. And what is also beginning to be comprehended as it never was before is that neither the artisan nor his master can dispense with cultivation if he is to hold his own. Professor Huxley made some weighty remarks on the truth that knowledge is power in industry as elsewhere. "We had dropped astern," he said, "in the race for want of instruction in technical education which was given elsewhere to the artisan, and if they desired to have any chance to keep up that industrial predominance which was the foundation of the Empire, and which, if it failed, would cause the whole fabric of the State to crumble—if they desired to see want and pauperism less common than, unhappily, they were at present, they must remember that it was only possible by the organization of industry in the manner in which they understood organization in science, by straining every nerve to train the intelligence." . The Imperial Institute will not accomplish all this; such a transformation must be the work of time and many agencies. But the scheme will be no unimportant aid in the necessary education; and it