THE PEOPLE'S PALACE.

F the Charities of England are examined, they will always be found to be strongly characteristic of the age which produced them. In fact they lie one upon another like geological strata. First comes the epoch of masses for the soul and of friendly dinners, this is succeeded by doles of bread and clothing to those who attend church. Then follows a period of almshouses and pensions to ancient inhabitants of sober and godly life. To this a scholastic and apprenticeship series of charities succeeds; and finally we come to the period of orphanages and hospitals. In fact the date of a charity can by the experienced eye be told almost as a geologist fixes the age of a fossil.

The last few years have been distinguished by a new departure in charitable effort, and it is characteristic of the pleasure-loving age in which we live, that the giving of pleasure to the poor should become one of those objects which are considered within the legitimate scope of a charity.

Another and better characteristic is the recognition of the fact that if you wish to reform men you should begin with them when they are young, and that prevention is better than cure, a fit opinion for an age which has witnessed the rise of the evolutional hypothesis.

London,

Thus we have Toynbee Hall and Dr Barnardo's very interesting experiments going on in one part of a huge penny dinner movement in another, Youths' Homes, Shoeblack Brigades, and Girls' and Boys' Friendly Societies springing up in all parts of the

town, while the Universities have began a missionary movement for education on a large scale, and the Recreative Evening Schools Association is attempting the care of boys from the time of leaving school until they are of age to attend lectures of a more advanced description. Near every church a Youths' Club and Institute is forming, and some of our old Schools and Colleges, notably St John's, have pushed forward Missions into London aiming not only at the spiritual good of the poor but also at their mental and physical improvement.

When, therefore, about ten years ago John Beaumont left twelve thousand pounds for the general good of East London, it was natural for the trustees to select as their object the foundation of some institute in accordance with the ideas of the day.

Shortly afterwards Mr Besant's novel, All Sorts and Conditions of Men, was published. The readers of the Eagle will no doubt recollect how one of humble birth (but reared as an aristocrat) disguised as a carpenter had the good fortune to attract the notice and love of an heiress disguised as a milliner, and how they founded a People's Palace of Delight. There was to be dancing, music, and the practice of the arts. Culture was to descend from the mansion to the alley, and the working classes of the East end, forsaking the pleasure of fighting and low music-halls, were by the building of this Hall to be convinced. of the endless pleasures that could be got out of life by those who knew how to enjoy them. None of "the usual things, such as Latin, Greek, or Mathematics, and so forth" were to be taught in the College adjoining the Hall, but dancing, singing, skating, and other sports were to be encouraged. "There were to be lectures, not in literature, but in letter-writing, especially love-letter writing, versifying, novel-writing and essay-writing," and a special Professor was to teach the art of a graceful carriage of the body.

The humorous account of the Palace of Delight further deals with classes for fret work, crewel work, wood and ivory carving, a theatre, a skating rink, a picture gallery, and a hall for recitations, and all governed by a Board of Directors elected by the people themselves. Some persons will be glad to hear that the action of the Assembly of the French Revolution was to be imitated in the total abolition of spelling.

We are favoured with a glimpse of the opening of this Hall, being introduced into it to the strains of a wedding march which signalises the marriage of the hero and heroine, and apparently their retirement from the attractions of the East end; but the author has discreetly drawn a veil over the future of the institute, and given us no view of its practical working.

The beauty and truth of the descriptions of life in this novel have charmed many readers, most of all those who are familiar with the scenes which are depicted. Its moral (if it has one) seems to be that pleasure is and ought to be the future aim of the working classes of London.

I feel inclined to reply that if this is true it is so much the worse both for them and for England. To follow pleasure is as though a man should attempt to reach the reflection in a mirror of an object placed behind him. The nearer he approaches the image, the further he goes from the object itself. For pleasure is only the accompaniment and result of good and wise actions, and, in so far as it is pursued as an object in itself, it has generally resulted in discontent to individuals and ruin to nations. In the middle ages a philanthropist's first care would have been to save the soul of a man, in the age that succeeded it to get him if possible to live soberly, in ours to make him happy. It was therefore natural that when the Beaumont Trustees announced their intention of founding a People's Palace of Delight subscriptions should rapidly flow in. enjoying the comforts and luxuries of a West end life Those who were

were generously moved to compassion for those who, if they danced, must dance in the mud to a barrel organ, or whose notions of art were derived from the terrific pages of the Police News.

About £67,000 was collected, with which it was resolved to build an enormous hall, a winter garden, recreation rooms, and art galleries; it was "to tower above the low heights of the neighbouring buildings, with minarets springing from its midst, reaching upward to invite men to learn and to rise, and to be made to stand in the midst of gardens where music. and fountains make brightness, and where all could enjoy the recreation which is both pleasure and rest."* In addition to this it was to be provided with literature classes and technical schools, and with swimming baths and gymnasia, and a playground for games.

But there were many interested in the success of the scheme who considered that what was really needed for the people of the East end was education even more than pleasure. Square miles of houses existed without any sort of an evening school, other than a few excellent but small institutions which individual effort had established.

The movement also attracted the attention of the Charity Commission. In 1883 an Act had been passed through the exertions of James Bryce, the well-known author of The Holy Roman Empire. This Act provided for the reconstruction of the ancient charities of the various parishes of London. The poor had ceased to live in the City; whole parishes had been turned into warehouses. The Bank of England completely covers one parish and the larger part of two others, and therefore there were no poor to whom the money could be given. These magnificent endowments, worth about £80,000 a year, were being wasted, and the

See the original prospectus.

object of the Act was to empower the Charity Commissioners to remove them from the City and spread them over the metropolitan area. It was natural therefore that the eyes of the Commission should be drawn towards the People's Palace, with a view of seeing whether it was deserving of help. Negociations passed, ending in an agreement that at the Palace be established a Youths' and Girls' Institute for those between the ages of 15 and 25, similar to the Polytechnic at Regent Street.

there should

The history of the Regent Street Polytechnic well deserves a short digression. The Young Men's Christian Associations for the combination of religion, study, and healthy recreation were the result of an idea of Mr Williams in Williams in 1844, and were largely assisted by the late Lord Shaftesbury. They commenced in a building in Aldersgate Street, but they now number 3000 branches, of which there are 571 in Great Britain, 630 in Germany, 1100 in North America, and others in all the countries of Europe, in Africa, in Australasia, and even in China and Japan.

In imitation of them, Young Women's Christian Associations were founded, which in London alone number over 12,000 members, and the Girls' Friendly Society, which is over 110,000 strong, about 2500 members residing in the metropolis.

But these institutions, so far as the boys are concerned, are mainly for the commercial classes. It is well known that young clerks do not mix readily with artisans, and therefore it occurred to Mr Quintin Hogg to institute a Young Men's Polytechnic on the site of the well-known institution familiar to our youth (and which I regret has had no successor). In an exceedingly short time the place was filled. It now has 7000 members on the rolls, and every evening young men between the ages of 15 and 25 may be seen either in the gymnasium, or boxing, or swimming, or reading, or else attending classes in every

VOL. XV.

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