658 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



meled by the somewhat mechanical uniformity apt to result from 

 working for external examinations, but sufficiently elastic to allow 

 for different aptitudes in the pupils, and to afford scope for the free 

 initiative of able teachers. It is a gain for the continuity of educa- 

 tion when a school-leaving examination can be accepted as giving ad- 

 mission to the university. Such an examination must be conducted 

 under the authority of the university; but there is much to be said in 

 favor of the view that, under proper safeguards, the school-teachers 

 should have a part in the examination; always provided that the ulti- 

 mate control, and the decision in all cases of doubt, shall rest with the 

 university. A system of school-leaving examinations for this country 

 was earnestly advocated, I believe, by Mr. P. A. Barnett, who has 

 achieved such excellent work for the cause of education in Natal. To 

 discuss the advantages or difficulties of such a proposal, as they at 

 present affect South Africa, would demand knowledge which I do not 

 possess; and I must content myself with the expression of a hope that 

 in days to come — perhaps in a not distant future — it may be found 

 practicable to form such a link between the highest education and the 

 grade next below it. 



But the limit of time proper for a chairman's address has now 

 almost been reached. I thank you sincerely for the kindness and 

 patience with which you have heard me. In conclusion, I would only 

 say how entirely I share a conviction which has been expressed by one 

 to whose ability, to whose generous enthusiasm and unflagging efforts 

 the cause of education in this country owes an incalculable debt — I 

 refer to Mr. E. B. Sargant. Like him, I believe that the progress of 

 education in all its grades, from the lowest to the highest, is the agency 

 which, more surely than any other, will conduce to the prosperity and 

 the unity of South Africa. .For all workers in that great cause it must 

 be an inspiring thought that they are engaged in promoting the most 

 fundamental and the most far-reaching of national interests. They 

 are endeavoring to secure that the men and women to whom the future 

 of this country belongs shall be equal to their responsibilities and 

 worthy of their inheritance. In that endeavor the sympathies which 

 they carry with them are world-wide. As we come to see, more and 

 more clearly, that the highest education is not only a national but an 

 imperial concern, there is a growing desire for interchange of counsels 

 and for active cooperation between the educational institutions of the 

 colonies and those of the mother country. The development of educa- 

 tion in South Africa will command keen attention, and will be followed 

 by earnest good wishes, not only in England, but throughout the British 

 dominions. One of the ideas which are bound up with the history and 

 the traditions of our English public schools and universities is the idea 

 of efficient work for the state. Those institutions have been largely 



