xii POLITICAL LIFE 297 



be done to draw the masses, especially the young folk 

 in our crowded East End and manufacturing districts, 

 from objects which have a debasing tendency. On 

 the whole, all well-wishers to humanity may congratu- 

 late themselves on progress in this direction, among 

 which free libraries and reading-rooms are working in 

 the right direction. 



The subject of museums reminds me that in 1889 

 the Government appointed a private committee, con- 

 sisting of Lord Francis Hervey, the late Sir Bernhard 

 Samuelson, and myself, together with General Sir 

 John Donnelly, to consider and report on the condition 

 of the Science Collection at South Kensington, some 

 depreciatory remarks on these Collections having been 

 made by an influential Member of Parliament, who 

 remarked that he thought a great deal of space was 

 wasted by the exhibition of a quantity of old iron and 

 worn-out models that ought to be consigned to the 

 rubbish-heap. He was, however, ignorant of the fact 

 that these are historical monuments of the greatest 

 possible interest, being in many cases the actual 

 machine as originally invented, and thus presenting a 

 record of inestimable value for the history of English 

 scientific invention. 



In answer to a question asked me by Mr. W. H. 

 Smith, who was then the Leader of the House, I said 

 that I had consulted with Lord Francis Hervey and 

 Sir Bernhard Samuelson on the question. We 

 considered that there should be more effective super- 

 intendence of the Science Collections at South 

 Kensington than had been the case hitherto, more 

 especially in the Machinery and Inventions portion. 

 We did not think ourselves authorised to consider in 

 detail how this could be best effected, but we suggested 

 the appointment of a permanent committee of five to 



