ABSTRACT
Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, was a politician and educational reformer and trustee of Ruskin’s Guild of St. George. The Associate label meant that the individual was not a member of the University but signified a form of affiliation, without the privileges of complete membership. William Dyce and John Ruskin were appointed as examiners in drawing, and both corresponded with the university on the question of arts as a branch of education. The examinations owed much to work done the previous year in the west of England. Meanwhile it is evident that there are at least three parties contending in England for the mastery in the guidance of Art. The practical difficulty seems to be of two kinds. First, that the principles of Art are so vague that they are difficult to state, and still more difficult to learn except by practice; and, secondly, that few have time both for Art and for general education—“Ars longa, vita brevis.”.
