XII 



POLITICAL LIFE 295 



beginning to be employed in manual labour. Al- 

 though this Bill did not become law it is gratifying to 

 think that now continuation schools are very largely 

 established in all our great centres. I took part in 

 the same year in a conference convened by the 

 London Chamber of Commerce to consider the best 

 means of introducing a system of commercial educa- 

 tion which would meet the requirements of modern 

 business. The Committee of which I was a member 

 did much to stimulate action in this important matter. 

 About the same time I was asked whether I would 

 consent to have my name put forward as an Alderman 

 for the County Council of London. This honour I 

 felt obliged to decline. 



I also took much interest in the question of the 

 opening of museums on Sundays, and as President of 

 the Sunday Society presided at an evening party at 

 the Freemason's Tavern. I stated that great progress 

 was being made with regard to this matter in Man- 

 chester, and it was remarkable to see the thousands of 

 people who patronised the Free Library and the Art 

 Gallery in that city on Sundays ; and I proposed to 

 bring forward a resolution in the House of Commons 

 to the following effect : " That a Royal Commission 

 having declared that Sunday opening of Museums and 

 Galleries had exerted a salutary influence on the 

 moral and intellectual condition of the people and 

 upon the industrial progress of the country, this House 

 recognises the justice and expediency of opening the 

 Natural History Museum at South Kensington and 

 the Bethnal Green Museum on Sundays without 

 further delay, thus extending to London the advan- 

 tages already provided at Kew, Hampton Court, 

 Greenwich, Dublin, Birmingham, Manchester, and ten 

 other provincial towns where the most admirable 



