24 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.— SUPPLEMENT. 



of April, 18*74. He gives statistical tables and 

 details concerning the careers of the men selected 

 by competition, and a general account of the ex- 

 aminations and of the organization in which the 

 civil servant takes his place. The evidence against 

 selection by competition seems to come to this, 

 that, after a most complete inquiry, the worst 

 that can be made out against the " Competition 

 Wallahs " is that some of them do not ride well 

 and that there is a doubt in some cases about the 

 polish of their manners, or the sweetness of their 

 culture. 



Doubt, indeed, was thrown by some writers 

 upon the physical suitability of selected candi- 

 dates ; but on this point a most remarkable fact 

 was brought to light. All the candidates for the 

 Indian Civil Service have to undergo two strict 

 medical examinations before Sir William Gull, so 

 that this eminent physician is able to speak with 

 rare authority as to the physical health of the 

 candidates. This is what he says (Report, p. 36): 

 " I still continue to be impressed with the fact 

 that a sound physical constitution is a necessary 

 element of success in these competitive examina- 

 tions. The men who have been rejected have not 

 failed from mere weakness of constitution, but 

 (with only a solitary exception or two) from a 

 mechanical defect in the valves of the heart in 

 otherwise strong men, and, for the most part, 

 traceable to over-muscular exercises. . . . There 

 is a somewhat prevalent opinion that the courses 

 of study now required for the public service are 

 calculated to weaken the physical strength of can- 

 didates. Experience does not only not confirm 

 this, but abundantly proves that the course of life 

 which conduces to sound intellectual training is 

 equally favorable to the physical health of the 

 student." 



Unless, then, we are prepared to reject the 

 opinion of the physician who has had the best 

 possible means of forming a sound conclusion, a 

 competitive examination is actually a good mode 

 of selecting men of good physical health, so close- 

 ly are the mental and bodily powers correlated as 

 a general rule. 



It is impossible that I should, in a single arti- 

 cle, treat of more than two or three of the prin- 

 cipal arguments which may be urged in defense 

 of the examination-system. Did space admit, I 

 might go on to point out the great improvement 

 which has taken place in education since effective 

 examinations were established. The condition of 

 Oxford and Cambridge as regards study in the 

 present day may not be satisfactory, but it is cer- 

 tainly far better than at the close of the last cen- 



tury. The middle-class schools are yet far from 

 what they ought to be, but the examination-sys- 

 tem, set on foot by the old universities, is doing 

 immense good, giving vigorous and definite pur- 

 pose where before a schoolmaster had hardly any 

 other object than to get easily through the "half." 

 Primary schools would for the most part be as 

 bad as the old dames' schools, did not the visits 

 of her majesty's inspectors stir them up to some- 

 thing better. In one and all of the grades of 

 English education, to the best of my belief, ex- 

 amination is the sheet-anchor to which we must 

 look. 



I will not conclude without adverting briefly 

 to a few of the objections urged against the ex- 

 amination-system. Some of these are quite illu- 

 sory ; others are real, though possibly exaggerated. 

 No institution can be an unmixed good, and we 

 must always strike a balance of advantage and 

 disadvantage. One illusory objection, for in- 

 stance, is urged by those who take the high mor- 

 al ground and assert that knowledge should be 

 pursued for its own sake, and not for the ulterior 

 rewards connected with a high place in the ex- 

 amination-list. The remarks of these people 

 bring before the mind's eye the pleasing picture 

 of a youth burning the midnight oil, after a suc- 

 cessful search for his favorite authors. We have 

 all of us heard how some young man became a 

 great author, or a great philosopher, because, in 

 the impressible time of boyhood, he was allowed 

 to ransack the shelves of his ancestral library. 

 I do not like to be cynical, but I cannot help as- 

 serting that these youths, full of the sacred love 

 of knowledge, do not practically exist. Some no 

 doubt there are, but so small is the number with 

 which the school or college teacher will meet in 

 the course of his labors, that it is impossible to 

 take them into account in the general system. 

 Every teacher knows that the bulk of a junior 

 class usually consists of intellects so blunt or so 

 inactive that every kind of spur is useful to incite 

 them to exertion. 



Nor do I believe that the few who are by na- 

 ture ardent students need suffer harm from a well- 

 devised system of university examinations. It is 

 very pleasant to think of a young man pursuing 

 a free and open range of reading in his ancestral 

 library, following his native bent, and so forth ; 

 but such study directed to no definite objects 

 would generally be desultory and unproductive. 

 He might obtain a good deal of elegant culture, 

 but it is very doubtful whether he would acquire 

 those powers of application and concentration of 

 thought which are the basis of success in life. If 



