NATURE: 
423 
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1870 
» THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION 
Te SAGES politicians have peculiar ways of giving us 
what we want. For some time every one has felt, as 
it were, by a sort of instinct, that we shall at last have what 
all other civilised nations have long known to be indis- 
pensable,—a Minister of Public Instruction. Out of 
Parliament this has been on all sides spoken of as a 
matter of course. But in Parliament it is different. 
When the inevitable time comes for it to be spoken of 
there, it must be carefully avoided, or only coyly glanced 
at, by those who have thoroughly determined to give it, 
for etiquette imposes on them the necessity of appear- 
ing to yield to external importunity. A very pretty ex- 
ample of this parliamentary coquetry occurred last week 
on the first reading of the new Education Bill. Mr. Forster 
displayed no little ingenuity in avoiding the slightest allu- 
sion to a provision which everyone of his hearers knew 
to be absolutely essential to the success of the great 
measure he was introducing. He said, “The first thing 
that would suggest itself probably to the minds of all hon, 
members would be a system of organisation throughout 
the country,” knowing perfectly well that “ the first thing” 
that must suggest itself would be a central authority to 
create and direct that organisation. But the suggestion 
must not come from a Minister. It was not long, how- 
ever, in coming from other quarters. Sir John Pakington, 
as a leading member of the Opposition, and other 
speakers, promptly supplied the deficiency, and the pro- 
posal was received with “ministerial cheers.” All men 
know that the meaning of this amusing, and no doubt 
most necessary, little comedy is, that we may now hope soon 
to have a Minister of Public Instruction. That being the 
case it may not be amiss therefore that the probable 
scope of the duties connected with such an office should 
be briefly considered. 
Such a Minister should, we think, take charge of the 
whole range of natural knowledge in all matters in which 
the State in any way intervenes to advance such know- 
ledge. We understand the comprehensive term natural 
knowledge to include Education, Science, the Fine Arts, 
and Music. Towards the promotion of all these the 
Government at present, more or less contributes its 
direct influence. In order to ensure continuity of system 
and avoid its interruption when the head of the de- 
partment vacates office with the change of Ministers, it 
will, we believe, be found necessary to place over each 
of these subdivisions a permanent, that is unparliamentary, 
Under Secretary of State; unless indeed the two last, Fine 
Arts and Music, may be found capable of being united 
under one head. But Education, Science, and Fine Arts, 
with Music, should certainly be kept distinct, not only 
with a view to division of labour, but to the special 
efficiency of each. 
The Education branch would include the national sys- 
tem of compulsory primary education about to be estab- 
lished, public schools, universities, and agencies of all 
kinds aided by the State, which have for their object the 
training of youth. It would include also general litera- 
ture in so far as that is recognised or subsidised in any 
way by the State. 
The Science branch would include all establishments, 
in receipt of Government assistance, in which Science is 
taught as a special study ; all those in which scientific 
observations or investigations are conducted under State 
auspices, and all museums in which natural objects are 
displayed for scientific purposes. 
The Fine Arts branch would include all national collec- 
tions of paintings, sculpture, and decorative works, na- 
dional schools of design, the national buildings and 
monuments, whether of the present or the future. 
The Music branch would include subsidies for cul- 
tivation of music, and rewards for pre-eminence in the 
art. 
Such, it can hardly be doubted, will be the broad 
classification. No doubt a debateable ground will be 
found to exist between the different subdivisions, through 
which it will be difficult to trace a clear line of separa- 
tion. For instance, between Science and Fine Arts 
there will be points of contact requiring perhaps careful 
re-adjustment; as in the cases of the British and 
South Kensington Museums, in each of which both Art 
and Science collections are under one roof. The 
opportunity ‘presented by the institution of the new 
Minister is perhaps the last that will ever be 
afforded us of deciding whether collections differing 
so entirely in their characters and objects as those of 
Art and Science should be in juxtaposition. It is certain 
that the classes who visit collections of Natural History, 
bond fide for instruction, are not at all aided, and but little 
interested, by the immediate presence of antiquities and 
objects of vertz, The classes who only visit museums 
for amusement, are doubtless interested in both. But in 
creating a consistent system, which of these two classes 
should be chiefly considered? If the latter, is there not 
considerable danger of our falling into the error of making 
such collections mere places of amusement? Again, the 
minds best qualified to organise and maintain Art collec- 
tions do not usually possess equal knowledge of, or feel 
equal interest in, Science, and wice versd. It seems 
desirable then that the question of separating the two 
of kinds collections should now be settled once for all. 
Coincident with the re-classifying of our national 
collections should be an endeavour to engraft on some of 
them, in which the want has long been felt, arrangements 
for facilitating the study of their contents. 
Assuming that the scope of the new Minister’s jurisdic- 
tion will be generally such as we have indicated, we may 
be at ease with respect to the Education branch. This 
has received so much attention of late, and the whole 
subject has been so thoroughly mastered by Mr. Forster, 
who will, let us hope, be our first Minister of Public Instruc- 
tion, that he will enter with confidence on this part of 
his duties. But with Science it is far different. Our 
present very meagre and partial scientific arrangements 
are dislocated and scattered over every existing depart- 
ment of the State, as if with the express object of putting 
consistency, system, and efficiency out of the question. 
The first step towards organising this branch of know- 
ledge must be by collecting facts and opinions relating to 
it. This step can only be taken through the agency of a 
Royal Commission instructed to give the widest possible 
scope to its inquiries into everything relating to both 
Instruction and Inyestigation in Science. 
