iwij 9, 1808. ] 



JOUKNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENBB. 



35 



preside over tho oponinR of onr Indnstrial Eshibition, in which yon 

 advocftted tha foundation in this town of ft momorinl institntion in 

 hononr of Sir JoBoph I'uxton, to bo dovotod to tho advantaRO of tho 

 indofltrial claBacs of this lociilily. 



" On that occasion yonr lordship spoko aa follows : — 1 hero remains 

 T6t another part of yonr Exhibition of so pocnliar a character as to 

 demand a epocial notice. An article maunfactnred at a distance from 

 a raw material found in this noi^hbourhood— fjlass, made at BirminK- 

 h&m from onr Heath— I mi^ht almost say our Loighton sand. Wc 

 haTO reason to bo proud of onr contribution to the most perfect of tho 

 products of English industry. In china and earthenware we are 

 excelled ; in glass pre-eminent. The Paris Exhibition settled that 

 point ; and in this climate how greatly should wo appreciate that 

 beautiful fabric which can afford ns aheltor without intercepting the 

 oheenng rays of light— tho fabric without which the industries of all 

 nations concentrated hero in 1S51 would have been sot at nought and 

 viewless, hut for tho palace of glass and iron which rose to receive them. 

 But what is the material without the man ? The man who overcame 

 that great industrial difficulty by his creative genius was, like the glass 

 itself, found in this neislibourhood, though trained at a distance. Sir 

 J^ph Paston was tho man ; and I ask, with surprise and shame. 

 Where is the fountain-head monument to him from whom the Crystal 

 Palace sprang ? Mcntmore on one side of yon, Battlesden on the other, 

 confront eoch other telling of his fame. "Your town between the two 

 seems made for his memorial site. I knew tho man well, and am 

 intimate with tho family that knew him best ; and I can safely say, that 

 while it is impossible to conceive anything that could exceed the 

 enthusiastic gratitude, affection, and respect with which he regarded 

 the noble patron of bis fortunes, yet there was one feeling in hira 

 paramount to all, and that was loyalty to the class from which he 

 sprang, embodied by a deep desire to afford them tho advantages of a 

 cultured education ; and I say it, not for the purpose of creating excite- 

 ment, bnt on my honour, and with a certain conviction of the truth of 

 what I utter, that it tho man conld now speak to ns he would say that 

 of all the testimonials that might be given to his worth, that which 

 would be most grateful to him would bo something in the nature of 

 advantage to free edncation of the artisans in the neighbourhood of 

 the place of his birth. Then what I say is, that out of this educational 

 movement there should spring a Paxton Museum, in honour of the man 

 and for the advantage of the working classes of the town. If you are 

 of my opinion, say, Ave. [Replies of ' Aye.'] The ayes have it, and 

 the work is done ; for' I cannot for a moment think that any man can 

 demur to the appropriateness of the movement, nor that it wiU be left to 

 this neighbourhood to carry it out.' 



" Our Society has thoughtfully weighed your snggestion, and has 

 endeavoured to give it form. It has embodied its conclusions in 

 resolutions." 



The resolutions wero read, and Lokd CniiiLES Rdsskll, in reply- 

 ing, said. It happened that Sir Joseph Paxton, in honour of whoso 

 memory they were that day met, had what he might consider tho 

 singular good fortune of adding one link to tho chain of friendly 

 connection that had existed between two of tho oldest and highest 

 families in this country for the last two centuries. Some two hundred 

 years ago William III. conferred the honour of a dukedom on the 

 house of Cavendish and on the house of Russell. The families were 

 connected at one time by an act of grateful patriotism; they were 

 afterwards more closely connected by marriage. From that time to 

 this there had been between them nninterrnpted harmony and friend- 

 ship. Well, it so happened that the first shilling Jospph Paxton 

 earned was earned as a garden boy in the service of the Duke of Bed- 

 ford, and the last days of his lite were passed in tho firm friendship of 

 the Duke of Devonshire. What Sir Joseph Paxton was as a link 

 between these two noble families, this address was between himself 

 and them. They wero there to accept from the late Sir Joseph Paxton 

 the legacy of that good name which he had bequeathed to the towns- 

 men nearest to the place of his birth, and to devoto that legacy to tho 

 preservation of his fame by erecting a monument which should be 

 strictly in accordance with the work and with the lite of that man. 

 There were some who told him that the Crj-stal Palace was the noblest 

 and the fittest monument to the worth of Sir Joseph Paxton. He 

 aceepted the Crystal Palace as a national monument, bnt he claimed 

 something nearer home as a local memorial, and one thing which 

 especially m.ade him desire it was this — that though Sir Joseph 

 Paxton raised himself from the very humblest grade, that of an agi'ionl- 

 tnral labourer, to a position in which he associated with most of the 

 g^sat and noble of tho land, yet — his lordship spoke from his own 

 experience — he was always loyal to tho ranks from which he sprung ; 

 and the more he respected the aristocracy of tho land, the more did 

 he loot to the working classes of the country — an edacated, a contented, 

 a prosperous work-ing class — as the firmest foundation on which the 

 aristocratic institutions of this land could rest (cheers). He (Lord 

 BoBsell) remembered Paxton once telling him that be had been all 

 over Europe, and had seen nothing more beautiful than the site on 

 which Battlesden House now stood. Now, without at all disparaging 

 the landscape about Battlesden, he might say that they in the midland 

 counties held a middle position in landscape, somewhat higher than 

 the fens of the lower coaatries, but considerably lower than the breezy 

 uplands of tho northern counties. But when he told them that Sir 

 Joseph Paxton was so blinded by hia love for bis locality aa to prefer 

 it to anything he had seen in Europe, the meeting would agreo with 



him that somo local memorial was due to tho memory of that man. 

 Now, what they proposed to do was to raife a monnracnt, whidt 

 should bo first of all for tho benefit of the working men of tho district 

 in which ho was so largely interested. Mr. Bazley, (ho member for 

 Manchester, told him that not long ago ho went with a foreigner to the , 

 Free Library at Manchester. A boy, about thirteen years of age, clad 

 in fustian, was taking a book h-)me to read, as he was entitled to do ; 

 it was " The Lives of Eminent Men." Sir Joseph Paxton had added 

 another chapter to thoso lives, and one thing thf:y desired was that 

 those lives might bo read by every poor boy. The memorial by which 

 they proposed to perpetuate the memory of Sir Joseph Paxton, was 

 to consist first of all of an architectural building, (hen a mnsoum, a 

 library, and the means for periodical addresses. Now, he woald not 

 have those present to understand by a mnscnm an old fossil collection. 

 That they might have in due time, bnt their first object would be to 

 have a museum of staple manufactures and of tho present industry of 

 this land, expanding tho idea which they had already seen so well 

 suggested. With regard to the library, their first object wonld be a 

 good library of reference ; there must be numbers even of clergymen 

 and "entlemen, every one indeed who bad not tlie advantage of a firsl- 

 class^library, who wonld find tho benefit of being able to refer to it. 

 And to this library they proposed to add a reading room, where the 

 periodicals might circulate, and whero those in the neighbourhood 

 might read during tho day, and the working classes when their work 

 was done. Such an institution wonld be a proper tribute to a man who 

 had done mnch for the first-class recreation, both of tho educated 

 classes of society and the toiling masses in this great workshop of a 

 world. Tho meeting would ask him— and a very proper question — 

 " How do you mean to do this?" He was told that they mnsi. look at 

 a cost of some thousands ; at a venture he might put it at .il.'JtXX). H* 

 was not the least appalled at that. There was nothing worth having 

 that they could get without a little toil and trouble. He conld not get 

 it alone, bnt he meant to get it from a sense of what was due to tha 

 memoi-y of Sir Josepli Paxton. 



A conference was then held. 



Ultimately it was resolved, " Thai this conference, held nnder the 

 presidency of Lord Charles J. F. Russell, having before it the memorial 

 address of tho Leighton Buzzard Working Men's Mntuol Improvement 

 Society, presented to his lordship at the previous meeting held thig 

 day, advocating his lordship's suggestion for the establishment in 

 Leighton Buzzard of a memorial institntion in honour of Sir Joseph 

 Paxton, and having received the resolution nuanimonsly adopted by 

 the aforesaid meeting approving the proposal, resolves that the proposed 

 memorial shall be called ' The Paxton Institute,' and shall be 

 devoted to the advantage of the working classes and tho inhabitants of 

 the locality generally." 



" That this conference is of the opinion that the proposed in- 

 stitution, to bo permanently successful, must be founded upon a broad 

 and comprehensive basis: and, whilstitisdesirablethat it should meet 

 the requirements of the more educated portions of the community, it 

 is essential that its primary object of affording easily accessible 

 educational advantages for the indnstrial classes of the locality most 

 be steadily kept in view. And this conference is of opinion that a 

 building should bo erected and fitted to contain — 1, A mnsenm ; 2, a 

 library; 3, a public reading and news room; 4, rooms suitable for 

 lectures and classes." 



" The BniLDiNO should be in a centr.al part of the town ; shoald 

 present some decided architectural features, and it is snggested that 

 ornamental ironwork might be usefully and eftectively employed in 

 its construction ; its general character might thus be such as to accord 

 with the ideas by which the genius of Paxton has been illustrated. 



" The Museum. — It is not intended to gather in this department* 

 general and miscellaneous collection, but one which wonld represent, 

 in the main, the products, tho industry, and the natnral history of the 

 district. 



" The LiBiLiET. — A room should be specially fitted and devoted to 

 this purpose ; the library should consist of standard books for 

 reference — viz., works on biblical literature, science and art, history 

 and biography, accepted text books on agriculture, commerce,, trades 

 and handicrafts, local history and maps. 



" Public Readinq and News Room. — The requirements of thia 

 department are so generally understood, that it seems only needful to 

 s.ay that it should be made as attractive and popular as possible. 



" Lectures. — It is believed that benefit might arise from the 

 frequent delivery of lectures on scientific and technical subjects by 

 qualified persons, even though the audiences might be limited. For 

 such purposes a large class room or fair-sized room fitted as a lecture 

 threatre would be Decessary. 



" Classes. — It would bo advisable to encourage as far as practicable 

 tho holding of science and art classes, in conformity with the regulations 

 of tha Science and Art Department of the Committee of Council on 

 Education. Both the mnsenm and library shnnld be keiit en rapport 

 with the class subjects. For these purposes one or two rooderate-sined 

 class rooms woald he necessary." — [Leiijhion Bu^xard Observer.) 



VIOLA CORNUTA FAILURES. 

 I BHOTTLDlike to hear from some of yonr correepoBdents how 

 Viola cornata is doing tbis Beason ; with me, I am sorry to 

 Bay, it is quite a failure, macli worse than last jear. I then 



