able, and most interesting one from Sir James Paget, which was
commented upon by Sir Lyon Playfair, it would be perfectly
superfluous for me to detain you but for a few moments on any
subject relating to health. These addresses, which you have all
listened to with such great interest, will, I trust, have proved
to you what an important consideration the matter of health is.
This Exhibition, under the able chairmanship of the Duke of
Buckingham and those gentlemen of the Executive Council who have
worked under him, has, I think, been brought to a remarkable
degree of perfection. They have done everything they can do to
make it pleasing to the eye; but still I hope that those who
visit the Exhibition will remember that there are greater and
more important objects at stake--that they will go home
impressed by the study of those objects as well as by the
pleasure they may have derived from the wonderful inventions and
methods of showing them. I wish to tender my thanks to the Lord
Mayor and the great City Companies for their kind co-operation
in this Exhibition, and I am sure we are all much gratified at
the success of what is called Old London. Before concluding I
would beg to ask the Chairmen and Jurors at the close of the
proceedings to constitute their juries and select their
secretaries."
The French Ambassador, in moving a vote of thanks to the Prince of Wales
for presiding, referred to His Royal Highness's readiness on all
occasions to give his time and to devote his energies to any cause which
might advance the welfare of the people of this country. He called on
them to thank His Royal Highness, not only in the name of those present
and of the foreigners who had contributed to the Exhibition, and more
particularly those of France, but in the name of thousands upon
thousands of the poor and disinherited of the earth, of children and the
helpless, whose benefit would ultimately be promoted by this Exhibition.
The Lord Mayor seconded the motion, which was agreed to with
acclamation. The Prince, in closing the proceedings, tendered his
warmest thanks to the French Ambassador and his colleagues for their
presence on that occasion and for their continued co-operation in the
Exhibitions with which he had been connected. His Royal Highness, in
concluding, thanked the Lord Mayor, as representative of the City of
London, for all that the City and the Guilds of London had done to
promote the success of the Exhibition.
OPENING OF GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTE.
_June 25th, 1884._
The building, of which the foundation was laid nearly three years
before, was completed within the time originally contracted for, and the
Prince of Wales came to open it on the 25th of June, 1884. Again the
Lord Chancellor read the report, and on behalf of the Governors and
Council of the City and Guilds of London Institute, thanked His Royal
Highness for his continued interest, and his presence that day. Touching
allusion was made to the death of the Duke of Albany, who had laid the
foundation stone of the Finsbury Technical College in May 1881. "As
years roll by, and when the connection between the technical education
of the people and the commercial prosperity of the country becomes as
well understood and appreciated here as it is abroad, the year 1880, in
which the City and Guilds of London Institute was incorporated, and the
year 1884, in which this central institution was opened, will stand out
as epochs in what we hope may be an unbroken record of industrial
progress; and we sincerely trust that the remembrance of this day's
proceedings may ever furnish to your Royal Highness a pleasing and
satisfactory thought, enabling you to associate the endeavours of your
illustrious father, dating back more than thirty years, to improve the
arts and manufactures of the country, with the work of this Technical
Institute, over which your Royal Highness so graciously presides."
The Prince of Wales, in reply, said:--
"My Lord Chancellor, my Lords, and Gentlemen,--I have listened
with attention to your address, and I assure you it gives me
great pleasure to be able to preside at the opening of this
important institution, the first pillar of which, in company
with her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, I set nearly
three years since. I thank you for your very feeling reference
to the severe loss which the Queen, and each member of Her
Majesty's family, has sustained by the untimely death of my late
brother. His interest in every movement calculated to humanize
and to elevate the people of this country will, I am quite sure,
cause his loss to be felt far beyond the circle of his immediate
friends.
"I have been gratified that the City and the Livery Companies of
London have so generously responded to the letter which, as
President of the Institute, I addressed some few months since to
the Lord Mayor and to the Worshipful Masters of the Livery
Companies of London. This Institute, which owes its origin to
the liberality of the City and of the Guilds of London, is an
illustration of the excellent work that may be done by united
action, which could not possibly be accomplished by individual
efforts. Conformably with the traditions of these ancient
Guilds, there is, perhaps, no purpose to which they could more
appropriately devote their surplus funds, and none which would
be of more practical advantage to the country at large than the
promotion of technical education. The altered conditions of
apprenticeship, and the almost general substitution of machine
for hand labour have made the teaching of science, in its
application to productive industry, a necessary part of the
training of all classes of persons engaged in manufacturing
pursuits.
"There never was a time, perhaps, when the importance of
technical education was more generally recognized than now, and
I am gratified to learn from the report of the Royal
Commissioners appointed to inquire into the subject to which
your lordship has referred, that, although we are still behind
many of our foreign neighbours in the provision of technical
schools of different grades, the encouragement afforded by the
State to the teaching of science and of art, supplemented as it
now is by the Institute's assistance to the teaching of
technology, has placed within reach of our artizan population
facilities for technical instruction which have already
influenced, and which promise to influence still more in the
future, the progress of our manufacturing industry.
"As president of this Institute, I have noted with much
satisfaction the rapid development of the work which the Council
have initiated, and which they so successfully control. I am
anxious to take this opportunity of expressing in public what is
already known to you, my Lord Chancellor, and to the members of
the Council, the obligations which we are all under to Mr.
Philip Magnus, our able director and secretary, for his
unwearied exertions in having so successfully accomplished the
organization of the practical work of the institution. I have no
doubt that the opportunities for advanced instruction, which
will be afforded in the well-arranged laboratories and workshops
of this building, will enable the managers and superintendents
of our manufacturing works to obtain more readily than hitherto
that higher technical instruction which is so essential to the
development of our trade and commerce.
"But it is especially as a training college for teachers that
this institution will occupy an important place in the
educational establishments of this country. The demand for
technical instruction has increased so rapidly during the last
few years that the supply of teachers has not kept pace with it,
and I have noticed with satisfaction that in the scheme for the
organization of this school due prominence is given to the
provision of gratuitous courses of instruction for technical
teachers from all parts of the kingdom. I shall be glad to see
other corporations and individuals follow the example of the
Clothworkers' Company, by establishing scholarships which shall
serve to connect the elementary schools of this country with
this institution. Hitherto, all schools have led up to the
Universities, and literary training has been encouraged to the
disadvantage of scientific instruction. Manufacturing industry
has, consequently, not been able to attract to its pursuits its
fair proportion of the best intellect of the country. The
foundation of scholarships in connection with this institution
will enable selected pupils from elementary schools to enter
schools of a higher grade, and to complete their education
within these walls.
"As president of the International Health Exhibition, I am glad
that the Council of this Institute have been able to place at
the disposal of the Council of the Health Exhibition a portion
of this building for the exhibition of apparatus and appliances
used in technical and other schools. I have no doubt that we
shall find in that exhibition, which I hope to be able presently
to visit, much that is generally instructive, and that the
foreign sections will contain exhibits which will prove of great
interest to the educational authorities of this country. To the
Corporation and to the Livery Companies of London, the Council
of the International Health Exhibition are indebted for much
valuable assistance, and I thank them for it.
"It now only remains for me to declare the Central Institution
of the City and Guilds of London Institute to be open, and to
express the warmest hope that the important educational work to
be carried on in this great national school of technical science
and art will help to promote the development of our leading
industries, and that the City and Guilds of London, which have
so liberally subscribed funds for the erection and equipment of
this institution, will maintain it with efficiency, and will at
the same time continue their support to all other parts of the
Institute's operations."
After short speeches by Lord Carlingford, Mr. Mundella, and the Lord
Mayor, the Prince inspected the various parts of the Institute,
including the rooms where specimens of the work of students of the
Finsbury College, and where exhibits from foreign technical schools were
displayed.
ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY MEETING IN GUILDHALL.
_August 1st, 1884._
One of the most important meetings presided over by the Prince of Wales,
and one of the most memorable gatherings for many a year past seen in
the City of London, was that held in the Guildhall, on the 1st of
August, 1884. The object was to celebrate the Jubilee of the Abolition
of Slavery in the British Colonies, to recall the work of the British
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society during the last half-century, and to
consider the position and prospects of the slavery question at the
present time throughout the world.
It was in every respect a most remarkable meeting. The great Hall was
densely crowded from end to end. On the platform were assembled large
numbers of distinguished persons, of different creeds, and opposite
political parties, but all united in the cause which had brought them
together that day. The names of a few of those present will show how
various were the classes thus represented. The Lord Mayor (Alderman
Fowler, M.P.), and the Chief Magistrates of London, the Archbishop of
Canterbury and Cardinal Manning, Earl Granville and the Earl of Derby,
Sir Stafford Northcote and Mr. W. E. Forster, Mr. Sergeant Simon. Sir
Wilfrid Lawson, Mr. T. R. Potter, Mr. Henry Richard, and many other
leading members of Parliament, sat together on the same platform. There
were present a few of the veterans who had taken part in the
anti-slavery struggles fifty years before, such as Joseph Sturge and Sir
Harry Verney, M.P. Descendants of the early champions of the cause,
bearing the honoured names of Wilberforce, Lushington, Buxton, Pease,
Forster, showed that the spirit of their fathers was maintained in a new
generation. Among the ladies on the platform were the Baroness
Burdett-Coutts, Miss Gordon, the sister of General Gordon, of Khartoum,
and some members of the Society of Friends, always abounding in good
works.
The Secretary of the Society read a list of names of those unable to be
present, but expressing warm sympathy with the purpose of the meeting.
There were letters from the Chief Rabbi, from Lord Salisbury, the Duke
of Norfolk, the Duke of Sutherland, the Duke of Argyll, Lord Carnarvon,
and other men of distinction. The most touching communication was from
the venerated Earl of Shaftesbury, who had promised to attend, but was
obliged to dictate a letter from a sick-bed, in which he expressed the
satisfaction he felt in having lived to see such changes in regard to
slavery during the past fifty years. On the daïs behind the platform
were busts of Granville Sharp, and of Clarkson, decorated with flowers,
and in front were exhibited massive wooden yokes and iron chains, such
as are used for the gangs of slaves in the journey to the coast of
Africa.
Well might Lord Granville express his delight on "looking at this
assembly of eminent men in all the walks of life in this country, of
different professions, of different pursuits, of different religious
denominations, of different political parties, all absorbed by one
philanthropic idea, and presided over by the illustrious Prince, the
Heir-Apparent to the Throne." How the Prince came to occupy this
position, it may interest many readers to know. Mr. Allen, the Secretary
of the Society, and Mr. W. E. Forster, went to ask him to preside at the
meeting. Mr. Forster, for whom the Prince had high personal esteem,
reminded him that his father had made his first public appearance as
chairman of a meeting of the Anti-Slavery Society. The Prince did not
need to be reminded of this, but at once most cordially assented to
preside from his own interest in the subject, and if Mr. Allen would
give a few necessary dates and facts he would do the best he could. With
this assurance the success of the meeting was secured.
The Lord Mayor, according to civic custom, having taken the chair for an
instant, then vacated it, and invited His Royal Highness to preside over
the meeting. The Prince then rose, amidst enthusiastic cheers, and
said:--
"My Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,--At the express wish of the
Lord Mayor I am asked to preside on this auspicious occasion. I
need hardly tell you that in such a cause it gives me more than
ordinary pleasure to occupy the chair at so great and
influential a meeting as this. I confess I had some reluctance
in presiding to-day, feeling that others could accomplish the
task far better than I should. But I also felt that possibly I
might have some slight claim to occupy the chair on such an
occasion, as so many members of my family have presided over
former meetings in connection with Anti-Slavery movements. In
the years 1825 and 1828, my uncle the late Duke of Gloucester
presided at meetings of the Society, which were numerously
attended. The Duke of Sussex did so in 1840; and you are well
aware of the interest they took in promoting the objects of the
Society by bringing forward questions concerning it in
Parliament. In the same year my lamented father occupied the
chair at a very large and crowded meeting at Exeter Hall; and I
believe that occasion was the very first on which he occupied
the chair at any public meeting in this country. Let me say that
my excuse for standing before you to-day may be given in words
used by him forty-four years ago. They were these--'I have been
induced to preside at the meeting of this Society from the
conviction of its paramount importance to the greatest interests
of humanity and justice.'
"This is a great and important anniversary. To-day we celebrate
the jubilee of the emancipation of Slavery throughout our
colonies; and it is also a day which has been looked forward to
with pleasure and satisfaction by this excellent Society, which
has worked so hard in this great cause of humanity.
"We may be all proud, ladies and gentlemen, that England was the
first country which abolished negro Slavery. Parliament voted,
and the nation paid, twenty million pounds to facilitate this
object. Our example was followed by many other countries, though
I regret to say that in Brazil and Cuba slavery still exists, as
well as in Mohammedan and heathen countries. It is a very
natural temptation that, in newly-peopled countries, and
especially when the climate prevents Europeans from working,
forced labour should be introduced. The Duke of Gloucester very
properly said that 'The Slave-trade can only be thoroughly
abolished by the abolition of Slavery; that while there is a
demand, there will be a supply; this is the keynote of the
Society during its existence.'
"Principally owing to the indefatigable exertions of the
undaunted Thomas Clarkson and his great Parliamentary coadjutor,
William Wilberforce, the Slave-trade and the untold horrors of
the Middle Passage were, as far as Great Britain was concerned,
put an end to in the year 1807. The majority, therefore, of the
Slaves in the West Indian Islands who received the benefit of
the Emancipation Act were descendants of those Africans who had
been originally torn from the forests of Africa. Speaking of the
proclamation of the emancipation of the Slaves in the colonies,
Mr. Buxton said:--'Throughout the colonies the churches and
chapels had been thrown open, and the Slaves had crowded into
them on the evening of the 31st of July, 1834. As the hour of
midnight approached they fell upon their knees, and awaited the
solemn moment, all hushed, silent, and prepared. When twelve
o'clock sounded from the chapel bells they sprang upon their
feet, and through every island rang glad sounds of thanksgiving
to the Father of all, for the chains were broken and the Slaves
were free.'
"I may mention that I have within a short time ago received a
telegram from the President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference
in session at Burslem, congratulating me and you on the meeting
of to-day, and stating that it was during the session of the
Conference in 1834 that the abolition of Slavery in the West
Indian Colonies became an accomplished fact--a consummation for
which, as Wesleyan Methodists, they had universally prayed and
laboured. They cannot therefore, but profoundly rejoice at the
jubilee of the great event, with its incalculable benefits, not
only to the West Indies, but to all other peoples throughout the
world.
"It may not, perhaps, be generally known to you that Slavery was
abolished in India in 1843 by the simple passing of an Act
destroying its legal status, and putting the freeman and Slave
on the same footing before the law. The natural result took
place, and millions of Slaves gratuitously procured their own
freedom without any sudden dislocation of the rights claimed by
their masters. A plan similar to this would be found a most
effectual one in Egypt and other Mohammedan countries. This
example was followed by Lord Carnarvon in 1874 on the Gold Coast
of Western Africa, where he was able to abolish Slavery without
any serious interference with the habits and customs of the
people. Under the influence of England, the Bey of Tunis issued
a decree in 1846, abolishing Slavery and the Slave-trade
throughout his dominions, which concluded in the following
simple and forcible terms:--'Know that all Slaves that shall
touch our territory by sea or by land shall become free.'
"In connection with this there are two names which I cannot do
otherwise than allude to to-day--that of Sir Samuel Baker, and
one which is on everybody's lips--that of General Gordon. You
are well aware that during the term of five or six years that
they were governors of the Soudan their great object was to put
down the Slave-trade on the White Nile. They were successful to
a great extent, but I fear they had great difficulties to
contend with, and when their backs were turned much of the evil
came out again which they had found on their arrival.
"I will now turn to Europe. The great Republic of France in
1848, under the guidance of the veteran Abolitionist M. Victor
Schoelcher and his colleagues, passed a short Act abolishing
Slavery throughout the French dominions: 'La République n'admet
plus d'esclaves sur le territoire Français.' In Russia the
emancipation of twenty millions of serfs in 1861 by the late
Emperor of Russia must not pass unchronicled in a review of the
history of emancipation, although, strictly speaking, this form
of Slavery can scarcely be classed with that resulting from the
African Slave-trade. In the United States of America in 1865 the
fetters of six millions of Slaves in the Southern States were
melted in the hot fires of the most terrible civil war of modern
times. Passing on to South America, and looking to Brazil, it
may be noted with satisfaction that all of the small republics
formerly under the rule of Spain put an end to Slavery at the
time they threw off the yoke of the mother country. The great
Empire of Brazil has alone, I regret to say, retained the curse
which she inherited from her Portuguese rulers. At the present
moment she possesses nearly a million and a half of Slaves on
her vast plantations, but arrangements are made for their
gradual emancipation.
"Now, having taken this glance at the condition of Slavery
to-day, I will add, in the words of the Society, that 'the chief
object of this jubilee meeting is to rekindle the enthusiasm of
England, and to assist her to carry on this civilising torch of
freedom until its beneficent light shall be shed over all the
earth.' The place in which this meeting is held, the character
of this great meeting, and the reception these words have
received, assure me that I have not done wrong in stating freely
these objects. One of the objects of the Society is to circulate
at home and abroad accurate information on the enormities of the
Slave-trade and of Slavery, to give evidence--if evidence,
indeed, be wanting--to the inhabitants of Slave-holding
countries of the pecuniary advantages of free labour, and to
diffuse authentic information respecting the beneficial result
to the countries of emancipation. The late Duke of Gloucester,
in the course of a speech made by him in 1825, said that 'his
family had been brought to this country for the protection of
the rights and liberties of its subjects, and as a member of
that family he should not be discharging his duty towards them
if he did not recommend the sacred principles of freedom by
every means in his power.' Most heartily and most cordially do I
endorse his words.