TECHNICAL EDUCATION 161 



and altogether, in 1866, 105,695 were taught drawing through 

 the agency of the department an admirable result, and one 

 which probably does meet the requirements of the people. 2,306 

 teachers were examined, and 1,583 of these obtained certificates 

 of competency. Turning to mechanical drawing, the contrast 

 is very great. 16 teachers were examined, and 13 passed. 13 

 as compared with 1,583 for free-hand drawing. 20 schools receive 

 some assistance, because they give some instruction in mechanical 

 drawing. 20 as compared with nearly 700 for free-hand draw- 

 ing. The total number of persons receiving instruction in me- 

 chanical drawing in Great Britain and Ireland is 1,207. This is 

 the number we must contrast with 106,000 taught free-hand 

 drawing. Lastly, turning to the payments for results, we find 

 34. 85 II. paid to encourage free-hand drawing, and about 340/. 

 paid for the encouragement of mechanical drawing. I ask, Does 

 this proportion of one hundred to one correspond to the relative 

 importance of artistic and scientific drawing ? Is this sum of 

 340. such a sum as can fairly be said to encourage mechanical 

 drawing in such a way as to meet the requirements of the country ? 

 Why, the total payments on results for the 23 branches of 

 scientific instruction under the patronage of this department is 

 5,OOOL, about one-seventh of the sum spent in encouraging 

 free-hand drawing ! About 7,000 students learn these 23 branches 

 of science, as compared with 105,000 learning the elements of 

 free-hand drawing. The department has not yet, I think, earned 

 the right to sit down complacently, satisfied that the requirements 

 of the country are met. 



But you may fairly ask me, how it is possible, if mechanical 

 drawing be really so important to us as a manufacturing 

 nation, that it is so little taught ? Does not the number of art 

 students prove that there is a demand for artistic training, and 

 the small number of mechanical schools show that there is no 

 demand for the scientific branch ? The answers to these questions 

 are, I think, simple. Our countrymen have so great a natural 

 aptitude for all matters connected with mechanics, that all who 

 need this special knowledge do, by hard labour under sheer 

 necessity, acquire it. Only those plants and trees which are not 

 indigenous to the soil require costly apparatus and careful 

 watching. Art is not indigenous here, but science is, and 



VOL. II. M 



