8o 



NA TURE 



[July 15, 1922 



what the tournament had been in mediaeval times — 

 a challenge to every land, " not to the brightest dames 

 and bravest lances as of yore," but to its best produce 

 and happiest device " for the promotion of universal 

 happiness and brotherhood." Happy days ! Never 

 perhaps was the spirit of the English people more 

 buoyant, hopeful, confident. This was due in part 

 to a growing appreciation of the benefits which science 

 would confer on humanity. 



The Albert Hall was designed to carry out the Prince 

 Consort's expressed ideas as forming " a central point 

 of union where men of science and art could meet, 

 where the results of their labours could be communi- 

 cated and discussed, and where deputies from affiliated 

 societies could occasionally confer with the metro- 

 politan authorities." Public response to the appeal 

 for the Prince Consort's memorial was less generous 

 than was expected. The memorial in Kensington 

 Gardens, which cost 130,000/. and took twenty years 

 to complete, absorbed all the free-will offerings, in- 

 cluding 50,000/. from Parliament, and it was therefore 

 necessary to establish the Albert Hall on a commercial 

 basis with the financial assistance of the 1851 Exhibi- 

 tion Commissioners, and even of the builders. A capital 

 sum of 200,000/. was raised and seats were retailed (with 

 a generous tenure of 999 years) for 100/. each. The 

 foundation-stone was laid by Queen Victoria in 1867 

 and the Hall was opened in 1871. Those who, in view 

 of the uses to which the Hall is occasionally put, 

 may feel doubt as to the high ideals of its founders 

 should read the inscription on the frieze, which asserts : 

 " This Hall was erected for the advancement of the 

 arts and sciences and for the works of industry of all 

 nations, in fulfilment of the intentions of Albert, 

 Prince Consort." 



Not far south from the Albert Hall is the most 

 beautiful building on the estate, and possibly in the 

 kingdom, the Imperial Institute. This magnificent 

 pile is the permanent memorial of the completion of 

 the first fifty years of Queen Victoria's beneficent reign. 

 Initiated by the Prince of Wales with the co-operation 

 of the Lord Mayor of London, contributions to the fund 

 poured in from all parts of the Empire. By 1892 

 a capital sum of 413,000/. had been obtained, including 

 236,862/. in private donations from Great Britain and 

 101,550/. from India, and a public grant of 20,000/. 

 from Canada. Queen Victoria laid the foundation- 

 stone on July 4, 1887. On this occasion the Prince of 

 Wales expressed the hope that the Institute would 

 hereafter exhibit not only the material resources of 

 the Empire, but be " an emblem of that Imperial unity 

 of purpose and action which we believe has gathered 

 strength and reality with every year of your Majesty's 

 reign." Mr. T. E. Collcutt was the architect, and the 

 style is Italian Renaissance, with rich and abundant 

 ornamentation. The central tower, 280 feet high, 

 contains the Alexandra Peal of ten bells, given by an 

 Australian lady. 



Alas ! the founders of the Imperial Institute gave 

 more thought to raising the necessary capital than 

 to sordid considerations of current income and ex- 

 penditure. A somewhat fanciful scheme for electing 

 Fellows, who were given certain club facilities and 

 the right to use letters after their names, came to 

 an untimely end. Call a building a white elephant 



NO. 2750, VOL. I io] 



and close its doors may be accepted as a paraphrase 

 of a well-known proverb. In serious financial diffi- 

 culties, the Institute sought the protection and assist- 

 ance of the Government, which adopted the familiar 

 expedient of taking in lodgers. Thus it came about 

 that the University of London, which during the 

 whole course of its existence had flitted like an em- 

 barrassed shade from one set of Government lodgings 

 to another, including Somerset House, Marlborough 

 House, and Burlington Gardens, obtained possession 

 in 1900 of the larger part of the Imperial Institute for 

 administrative purposes. In the remaining part of 

 the building, the Imperial Institute continues its work 

 of investigation and propaganda. Let us hope that 

 in the near future the University may find its Canaan 

 in Bloomsbury and this monumental building may 

 again be wholly used for the noble purposes, sealed 

 and sanctified by the War, for which it was originally 

 founded ; thus may Queen Victoria's earnest prayer 

 at its inauguration in 1893 be fulfilled that the Institute 

 might " never cease to flourish as a lasting emblem 

 of the unity and loyalty of the Empire." 



Reverting to the history of the Commissioners' 

 estate, we find that at an early stage a large piece of 

 ground, 12 acres in extent, was sold to the Government 

 for the purposes .of the Science and Art Department 

 and its colleges and museums. This Department, 

 originally founded in 1853 as a branch of the Board of 

 Trade, became a few years later a distinct department 

 of the Privy Council. It was moved westward from its 

 quarters in Marlborough House in 1857 and drew up 

 a programme of educational and scientific work which 

 made " South Kensington " famous throughout the 

 civilised world. The mere catalogue of the institutions 

 which the Department administered is sufficiently 

 impressive, including the South Kensington (now the 

 Victoria and Albert) Museum, the Science Museum, 

 the Science Library, the Royal College of Science, 

 the Royal School of Mines, and the Royal College of 

 Art. The Royal College of Science and Royal School 

 of Mines claim descent from the Government " School 

 of Mines and of Science applied to the Arts," estab- 

 lished in Jermyn Street in 1851, and from the Royal 

 College of Chemistry, originally established in Oxford 

 Street, which combined with the School of Mines in 

 1853. The various departments were transferred to 

 South Kensington between 1872 and 1880 to the 

 old building in Exhibition Road, an early and beautiful 

 example of building in terra-cotta. In 1905 the new 

 chemical and physical laboratories, designed by Sir 

 Aston Webb, were opened in the Imperial Institute 

 Road, and, at about the same time, the new Victoria 

 and Albert Museum, built to the designs of the same 

 architect. The work of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment as a separate department came to an end under 

 the Board of Education Act of 1899. It must be 

 admitted that its adventures into the domain of second- 

 ary education were less happily inspired, and that 

 there was need for co-ordination between secondary 

 and technical education. In its day and generation, 

 however, the Department did a great work, from which 

 the impartial historian of national education will not 

 within ild grateful appreciation and the historian of 

 the late War may trace some of the silver threads of 

 victory. 



