India -- History -- British occupation, 1765-1947 -- Biography; Lawrence, John Laird Mair, 1811-1879
Then it was announced that £400 had been contributed by members of the
Board in order to form a scholarship to perpetuate the memory of his
chairmanship, and £1000 were added by the Duke of Bedford “in order to
mark his sense of the services of Lord Lawrence and of the Board over
which his Lordship had presided.” The permanent officers of the Board
caused a portrait of him to be painted, which now hangs in the large
hall of the Board-meetings right over the Chair which is occupied by his
successors. A banquet was given in his honour by his colleagues, at
which a tribute to his labours in the Board was paid by Mr. W. E.
Forster, then a member of the Government, as vice-president of the
Council.
It may be well to cite some brief passages to show the estimation in
which he was held by the Board. When the vote of thanks on his
retirement was proposed, Mr. Samuel Morley, speaking as “an acknowledged
Nonconformist,” said that gentlemen of the most opposite opinions had
been able to work together harmoniously, and this result he attributed
in a large measure to the character of the Chairman. Mr. W. H. Smith
said “the way in which Lord Lawrence came forward had greatly tended to
rouse the minds of the people to the absolute duty of providing for the
education of the destitute children, not only of London, but of
England.” Another member said “his friends out of doors, the working
classes, would find fault with him if he did not on their behalf tender
their thanks to Lord Lawrence.”
From his reply one significant sentence may be quoted as showing that
his Board had been friendly to the Voluntary system of education in the
metropolis. “We have in no way trodden upon those who have gone before
us, or done anything to injure them, but on the contrary our sympathies
and feelings have been in the main with those who have preceded us, and
all we desired to do was to supplement the good work which they had
begun.”
Lastly, at the banquet Mr. Forster said that “the greatest compliment he
could pay to the Board would be to say that the work of the last three
years will not be the least interesting part of the history of Lord
Lawrence, and will bear comparison with many another passage in that
history.”
Thus ended the crowning episode in the story of his public life. He who
had been the master of many legions, had used the pomp and circumstance
of the East for exerting beneficent influence, had defended an empire
daring war and guided it in progressive ways during peace--now rejoiced
that the sunset of his career should be gilded by services to the poor
of London.
He continued, however, to take interest in matters cognate to education.
Being one of the Vice-Presidents of the Church Missionary Society, he
frequently attended the meetings of its General Committee. Once at a
gathering held in furtherance of the mission cause, he bore testimony on
behalf of the Missionaries in India, with words that are affectionately
cherished by all whom they concern.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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