Page 96

Miscellaneous. 
To the French has been assigned for many years a decided superiority in the
decorations of their clocks. They have not been content with the design of
the car- 
penter who wrought the case, the artist has been consulted, and under his
cultivated 
taste the workman has acted. In this case an attempt has been made, it is
hoped 
with success, to follow their good example in matters of this description.
The Exhi- 
bition proved that wood-carving had attained to very considerable excellence
in Eng- 
land, and there seems no reason whatever why it should not be applied to
the orna- 
mentation of clock-cases, if artistic designers are consulted, and will turn
their 
attention to the enrichment without overloading of such articles of general
demand. 
There is no doubt that the public will readily patronise elegant designs,
if they are 
not rendered too costly by being overwrought. The introduction of superior
castings 
in metal for like purposes would soon follow, and would, doubtless, create
a consider- 
able demand for the productions of the more intelligent and educated artisans.
.4Jistelancous. 
* MR. SYDNEY SmiRex is one of those 
who would find a use for the SURPLUS of 
the EXHlBITION; and his proposition, on 
the whole, is one of the best that has 
been made. First, he suggests that the 
Crystal Palace be removed to some other 
spot as a winter garden.   He says:- 
"I venture to submit the proposal,that the 
Government, the Royal Commission, and 
the Society of Arts, should unite in a 
plan by which the several kindred objects 
of the School of Design and the Society 
of Arts should be amalgamated, and that 
instruction upon an extensive scale should 
henceforth form a department of the So- 
ciety, subject to the visitation of honorary 
commissioners, from time to time named 
by the Crown. As it is an essential part 
of the plan that the surplus funds of the 
Royal Commission should be applied to 
the carrying it into effect, it seems to 
be proper that some such independent 
visiting power should exist for the pur- 
pose of securing the due execution of the 
trust reposed in the Society. The pre- 
sent Commission are not a permanent 
body; their functions and their corporate 
existence will cease with the Exhibition 
and with the final disposal of the resi- 
duary funds. The establishment, thus 
enlarged and reorganised,would naturally 
include in its scope a conservatory of 
arts, in which might be preserved a most 
instructive selection from the contents of 
the Great Exhibition. A very interesting 
collection might be formed from mate- 
rials of little pecuniary value to the exhi- 
bitors. It would, indeed, be unfortunate 
if all the admirable contributions, illus- 
trative of the mineral, vegetable, and 
industrial productions of this and other 
countries, should be for ever dispersed. 
Who would not wish that these should 
be secured to the public for our lasting 
instruction and our rational amusement? 
Am I too sanguine in anticipating that 
the funds of the Exhibition, united to the 
large annual subscriptions of the Society 
of Arts, with, perhaps, some temporary 
aid from the Government, would suffice 
to effect all the above purposes ? One 
word more. When the palace of glass 
shall have vanished, as it arose, like an 
exhalation, let the site of it be marked 
by a monumental memorial, of which the 
most striking features might be supplied 
from its present contents. The purchase 
of some of the colossal castings, or other 
sculptures, which now decorate the inte- 
rior, would be a graceful appropriation of 
some portion of the money, well war- 
ranted by the terms of the trust upon 
which it is held by the Commission." 
" TRADES INSTITUTE."-Amongst the 
many plans for the improvement of the 
working classes and the appropriation of 
the surplus of the Great Exhibition, is 
one which has been suggested by Mr. T. 
Twining in a letter to Lord Shaftesbury. 
The scheme embraces evening schools 
in all large towns to afford to young 
journeymen education in such branches 
of knowledge as have a direct bearing 
upon  their  several  avocations, such 
schools to be in connexion with a central 
institute where artisans might receive a 
sort of "finishing," practical education. 
This latter to be established by Royal 
Charter. The pupils of this Institution or 
College to be taken from the ranks of 
young workmen who have finished their 
ordinary apprenticeship, and who ex- 
hibit a certain amount of superior ability. 
Examinations to be held periodically, and 
degrees and diplomas to be granted as 
evidence of various degrees of merit, and 
as guides to employers. A museum to 
be established in connexion with the 
institute for the reception of specimen 
models and diagrams illustrative of the 
manufacturing arts. Mr. Twining sug- 
gests that the nucleus of the Museum may 
be derived from the Great Exhibition, and 
proposes that a part of the surplus in the 
Commissioners' hands may be applied to 
the foundation of Institutions. 
SCHOOL Or ART FOR ARTIST-WoRKMEN. 
-Mr. Bruce Allen has issued the following