THE LOCAL MUSEUM, LABORATORY, AND LIBRARY. 71
interest to the town and county at large. The object of the scheme was to increase
the usefulness of the Museum by making it truly representative of the county, and
to enlarge it so as to become of educational value. The middle classes must
seriously take up the question of technical education, if they wished to hold their
own. The establishment of the Museum on right lines would confer a very great
benefit upon Chelmsford, as well as upon the county generally ; and he should be
mistaken in, and ashamed of his brother townsmen if they allowed this scheme to
slip through their hands, and the Institution to be located somewhere else. It was
simply a question as to whether they would raise sufficient money for the building,
and if they did not raise it, some other district would get the Institution. If they
established the Institution it was almost impossible that the County Council could
allow it to exist without providing money for its maintenance. (Applause.) Mr.
Chancellor proceeded to mention the names of a number of gentlemen who had
apologised to him for their absence, and said that Admiral Luard had promised a
donation of £5 5s. (Hear, hear.)
The Ven. Archdeacon of Essex seconded the resolution, and commended the
scheme to the approval of the meeting, because it had been thoroughly worked
out by men who well understood what they were doing. (Hear, hear )
Prof. W. H. Flower, C.B., F.R.S. (Director of the British Museum of Natural
History), then gave an able address on the "Educational Value of Museums," a
subject which, as above mentioned, formed the principal theme of his Presidential
Address to the British Association in 1889, Alluding to the scheme before the
meeting, he spoke highly of the claims and capabilities of the Essex Field Club
to undertake such a task ; he had followed the operations of the Club almost from
the beginning, and the energy and persistence in one line of work and observation
as evidenced in the publications of the Club, placed it, in his opinion, in the very
front ranks of similar institutions. He had had an opportunity of reading and
considering the scheme before it was adopted, and now that it was in print he
might say that he considered it was as good a scheme as could be devised to meet
the special circumstances of the case. It was well abreast of the modern views of
the objects land functions of local museums, and contained all the elements, of
success, having been drawn up by a body of men who were very much in earnest,
and he did not think that any fault could be honestly found with the plans that
had been put before the inhabitants of Essex. If they succeeded in establishing
this Institution it would certainly soon become the centre of great educational
advantages, and they would be setting an example for other counties in England
to follow. (Applause.) Under Mr. Chancellor's guidance he had been enabled
to pay a hasty visit to the old museum in Chelmsford that afternoon, and
it seemed to contain many things that would form a nucleus of a collection,
more especially in the way of Roman and Saxon remains. These remains should
always be carefully and jealously guarded. Prof. Flowers insisted most strongly
on the necessity of a museum being well arranged, and said that an ill-arranged
museum was like the letters of the alphabet thrown about indiscriminately,
meaning nothing at all. A well-arranged museum, on the other hand, was like
those same letters properly arranged in words of counsel and instruction. But
almost everything depended upon the curator—but in most museums he was the
last thought of. The Professor was almost inclined to advise, "Get your curator and
build the museum around him." Unpaid labour of the kind could never be depended
upon ; voluntary aid would be most useful in particular departments, but the con-
trolling hand of a permanent curator was in his opinion an absolute necessity if
the plans set before them were to be usefully and efficiently carried out. A