Stewart. — Address. 11 



various handicrafts were practised and taught, together with 

 the elements of machine-drawing. The workmanship was in 

 most cases very good, in some cases perfect. A great deal of 

 attention was devoted to carving in wood, and many very 

 creditable productions were to be seen finished or in progress. 

 The whole reflected much credit on the promoters of the 

 institution so far as the scope of teaching went. But that 

 does not represent what technical education in its true sense 

 means, which, as it happens, has been defined by Act of Parlia- 

 ment. I have had many opportunities of observation, and have 

 come to two conclusions bearing on technical teaching. The 

 first is : A youth cannot be taught a given trade at any such 

 school in a manner to enable him to take his place among 

 those who have served a regular apprenticeship to that trade. 

 Nothing can take the place of, or effect the same results as, 

 an apprenticeship, regular or not, but in any case comprising, 

 say, four or five years of actual work and earnest application. 

 Of course, there are exceptions, as now and then there may 

 arise a Nasmyth, who was self-taught and served no appren- 

 ticeship and yet was perfect in his workmanship. The second 

 point I note is that, of all things a youth can try, the use of 

 his hands in mechanical handicraft is the easiest to acquire, 

 notwithstanding the length of time it takes to perfect his 

 workmanship. This must be understood as in comparison 

 with anything requiring the use of his brains. I cannot too 

 strongly emphasize the difference that exists between a me- 

 chanic and a mechanical workman. Hugh Miller's friend, 

 David Fraser, who was so expert a stone-cutter that he could 

 easily do, and regularly did, as much work as three ordinary 

 men, was a mechanical workman of the first order, but 

 nothing more — a human machine, in fact. On the other 

 hand, the late Lord Armstrong, who began life as a solicitor, 

 was no workman, and never even acquired the art of the 

 draughtsman, but he was by nature a mechanic, and became 

 one of the foremost mechanicians of the age. 



There are, of course, some handicrafts ever so much more 

 difficult to acquire than others ; but I am safe in estimating, 

 as the result of a lengthened and close observation of a good 

 few representative trades, that not more than one in five 

 hundred of good workmen gets further than that stage by the 

 exercise of mental capacity. 1 have, to be on the safe side, 

 taken the above proportion ; but I fear that were a close in- 

 vestigation possible the result would be much more unfavour- 

 able. This is under the system of no higher education than 

 that to be obtained at the bench ; and the work of joinery 

 plumbing, &c, which 1 saw at the technical school goes very 

 little further. I need not say that such is not the system of 

 technical training which has worked so great a change in 



