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Miscellaneous. 
-Mliscellaneous. 
BELFAST SCHOOL OF DEsieG.-We are 
glad to receive the Annual Report of this 
chool, which shews the School has com- 
menced very auspiciously. Wantof space 
alone prevents our quoting the whole of 
it; but we must observe that there is a 
balance at the bankers-that the number 
of pupils has been 286 males and 29 
females-and that the School is obviously 
a subject of deep interest to Lord Duf- 
ferin, who has been a munificent patron, 
as well as to the gentry and manu- 
facturers. We are only able to quote from 
the Report the portions relative to the 
establishment of Scholarships-a subject 
of great importanceto all Schools and their 
general influence : --" The young men 
who enter the classes being almost exclu- 
sively drafted from among those whose 
occupations prevent their devoting more 
than the customary evening hours to 
study, it could not be expected that they 
should attain such early or complete pro- 
ficiency, as is desirable where there is 
promise of superior talent. In order, 
therefore, to afford the means of a more 
constant and exclusive devotion to the 
study of decorative art, it appeared highly 
desirable to offer an annual sum, in 
scholarships, binding those who should 
obtain them to give a certain additional 
time to their studies. To carry out these 
intentions, Lord Dufferin again came 
forward, and endowed a scholarship of 
201.; Mr. Blakiston Houston, of Orange- 
field, added one of 10l.; and your Com- 
mittee have joined to them a third, of 
151., out of the school funds. It is pro- 
bable that the Board of Trade will also 
endow one or more.      Several of the 
most promising pupils are preparing to 
compete, and the successful candidates 
will thus be placed in a position to rea- 
lise the full benefit of the school: and 
your Committee do not think themselves 
over-sanguine in anticipating that a very 
superior class of designers will thus be 
produced. Nor is it unlikely that among 
these scholars may be found individuals 
who, at some future period, may occupy 
an honourable place in the ranks of high 
Art. Even with the partial and unde- 
veloped advantages of our infant school, 
there have not been wanting instances of 
talent warmed into activity by its genial 
influence, and a statuette of' Venus attir- 
ing' has been conceived and executed by 
a young pupil, which indicates sufficient 
merit to warrant a belief that, as the 
school progresses, and its pupils are 
enabled at once to take a wider range of 
study, and to attend more exclusively to 
its details, a happy combination of crea- 
tive genius and practical ability may be 
looked for among those who leave its 
walls, after completing the prescribed 
curriculum. There is one topic con- 
nected with the working of the school 
which forms an exception to the satis- 
faction with which your Committee re- 
gard its general progress, namely,-the 
very small attendance of females in the 
public classes. While the male classes 
have, at times, counted as many as 150 
pupils, 17 is the highest number of fe- 
males as yet on the books. When the 
great extent to which the latter sex is 
employed in the sewed muslin manu- 
facture, and in fancy needlework of 
various kinds, is taken into consideration, 
it is surprising that so few have come 
forward to avail themselves of the in- 
struction which the school affords; more 
especially, since the fees are so very low 
as to be within the reach of all. It may 
be said that those who are thus occupied 
are not required to furnish designs for 
their work. But it should be borne in 
mind that the education of the eye is 
all-important in the execution of delicate 
and tasteful patterns. Where so much 
of the effect of an elegant design depends 
on the spirit and knowledge brought to 
bear on its execution, the most skilful 
needle may fail to produce its full effect, 
if it be not guided by an educated eye. 
That the employment best calculated for 
the women of Ireland exists in the 
various branches of needlework is strik- 
ingly illustrated, by the immense ex- 
tension of the sewed-muslin manufacture, 
and the elegant productions in lace, 
crotchet, embroidery, Berlin-wool, &c., 
which have emanated from industrial 
schools throughout the country. It is, 
therefore, of great importance that every- 
thing calculated to develope and improve 
this natural ability should be made 
available; and your Committee, in thus 
drawing attention to the valuable in- 
structions of the School of Design, trust 
that, when they next present you with 
their annual report, they shall not have 
to lament the neglect of these advantages. 
In addition to the public and private 
classes, a special one for governesses 
has been organised, with an intermediate 
scale of fees.  The primary object in 
the establishment by Government of 
Schools of Design, is to afford to the 
lower classes, through the assistance of 
the State, an easily accessible education 
in decorative art.   But, at the same 
time, full sanction and encouragement