670 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



appointed to revise the working of the Society, and that body recom- 

 mended that a council to manage the affairs of the Society should be 

 instituted. The committee in its report also gave expression to the 

 conviction that " the Society cannot continue to exist on the plan of 

 proceeding which is at present pursued," and that " the object of the 

 Society is the promotion of the useful arts rather than the personal 

 gratification of the members." It was further recommended that six 

 committees should be established, of five members each, and many 

 other valuable pieces of advice were tendered, but nothing came of all 

 this for the time being. At length, however, measures were taken for 

 obtaining a royal charter of incorporation, finally granted in 1847, and 

 in the mean time it was proposed that an exhibition of English indus- 

 try, analogous to those held abroad, should be instituted. The first 

 action taken in this direction was an offer of special prizes for articles 

 of manufacture, and a special fund was obtained for this purpose by 

 private subscription. It was deemed necessary to stimulate the makers 

 of English pottery to efforts toward an artistic combination of form 

 and color. A committee of artists was appointed to adjudge the prize 

 for a tea-service, and this was awarded to a set designed by " Felix 

 Summerly," and manufactured by Messrs. Minton. The identity of 

 " Felix Summerly " was then disclosed, and the Society's silver medal 

 was presented to Mr. Henry Cole (who has since received the Com- 

 panionship of the Bath), on the 12th of June, 1846. From this date a 

 notable change came over the constitution of the Society. Yearly 

 exhibitions were held. It is true that these were of a sectional char- 

 acter, and only proposed to illustrate certain branches of English 

 industry ; but it is not the less true that they were the immediate 

 precursors of the great Exhibition of 1851. Prizes for modern indus- 

 trial art were offered, and were eagerly competed for. Manufactures 

 and artistic productions were got together at great expenditure of 

 cash and industry, with the effect of rapidly increasing the number of 

 members. In 1847 the members of the Society numbered scarcely five 

 hundred ; but within three years these numbers had tripled. But, in 

 1849, there were " croakers " in the camp. Not a few of the ruling 

 spirits were inclined to " look back from the plough." As an instance 

 of this may be quoted a recommendation of the Finance Committee 

 of 1849, that " the exhibitions be discontinued," and another, passed 

 in December of the same year, that "it is expedient to reconsider the 

 policy of an Art Manufacture Exhibition in the year 1850." But the 

 advanced spirits of the Society were not to be balked. Against the 

 council of the ancients a formidable opposition was organized. Mr. 

 Cole resigned his seat on the council, and, biding his time till the gen- 

 eral meeting, effected a noteworthy coup d"etat. On election-day the 

 reactionary party were ousted by an immense majority, and an en- 

 tirely new council elected. The Exhibition of Ancient and Mediaeval 

 Art was duly held, and resulted in a splendid success, and a com- 



