EXAMINER OF PLAYS 



3037 



EXCALJBUR 



to discover questions which had 

 not been set before and could be 

 marked with precision and speed. 

 The use of this " ready reckoner " 

 of ability was both fostered and 

 abused by the call of democracy 

 for some means of distinguishing 

 merit apart from birth and parent- 

 age. Thus arose the competitive 

 examinations for the Civil Ser- 

 vice, the Navy and the Army, the 

 emoluments of a university career, 

 and latterly even for the acquisi- 

 tion of a stool in bank and count- 

 ing-house. When also degree ex- 

 aminations ceased to be used as 

 tests of teaching capacity, profes- 

 sional examinations in music, 

 pharmacy, surveying, and so 

 forth were introduced. School- 

 leaving examinations and the sub- 

 mission of theses for degrees have 

 been imported from the Continent. 

 Merits and Demerits 



Though examinations have 

 failed to accomplish their original 

 purpose, they must not be re- 

 garded as an unmixed evil. 

 They tell us little about moral 

 qualities and tend to destroy 

 spontaneity and originality. They 

 overstrain the mind, particularly 

 in " information subjects," to 

 the serious detriment of physical 

 development at a critical age. 

 They foster false intellectual 

 values by tempting both teacher 

 and pupil to concentrate on one 

 subject or a single group, in order 

 to achieve some reward therein, a 

 prize or scholarship, to the ex- 

 clusion of general culture. They 

 encourage memory far more than 

 mind. Lastly, they have gathered 

 round them a body of sterile 

 scholarship which glories in a vast 

 knowledge of dead tongues and a 

 heap of learned antiquarian lum- 

 ber valueless to the progress of true 

 science and the growth and culture 

 of the human heart. 



Nevertheless, examinations must 

 be credited with some good effects. 

 They act as stimulants to the desire 

 of excellence and development, 

 both personal and intellectual, and 

 force young minds to traverse in- 

 tellectual paths which they would 

 never have trodden for any other 

 reason. A much examined man 

 may remain a poor piece of hu- 

 manity; but he will have come 

 under valuable influences, have be- 

 come acquainted with vast tracts 

 of knowledge, and obtained a 

 breadth of vision, if not a pro- 

 fundity of judgement, of which the 

 untested man or woman is too 

 often quite innocent. Lastly, they 

 militate against loose thinking and 

 inchoate knowledge. 



With a view to improving secon- 

 dary school examinations the 

 board of education of England 



and Wales has (Circular 996) un- 

 dertaken " the functions and re- 

 sponsibilities of a coordinating 

 authority," with the assistance of 

 a Secondary-School Examinations 

 Council of 18 persons, represent- 

 ing the leading universities and 

 examining boards, councils, and 

 associations. This Council will, 

 under the coordinating authority 

 of the board of education, deal 

 with the recommendations of ex- 

 amining bodies, the maintenance 

 of adequate standards of examina- 

 tion, the investigation of com- 

 plaints thereupon from school 

 authorities, the promotion of ex- 

 amination conferences, the form 

 and contents of examination cer- 

 tificates, inter-university negotia- 

 tions for equivalence of rival ex- 

 aminations, and the effecting of 

 general improvements in examina- 

 tion schemes by bringing teachers 

 into touch with examiners, by ex- 

 amining schools on their own sylla- 

 buses, and by taking into account 

 the teachers' estimates of the merit 

 of the candidates from their own 

 schools (Circular 1002). 



Remedies for the System 



In view of the establishment of 

 such a Council it may be well to 

 state succinctly some obvious 

 remedies for the faults of the 

 present system. If the pupil's 

 mind is not to be narrowed by the 

 withdrawal of his interest and at- 

 tention from all matters beyond 

 the purview of the examination, 

 its scope must be so limited that 

 preparation for it occupies only 

 part of his school time. Moreover, 

 examination schemes must be fre- 

 quently reviewed. If expository 

 power is not to be paralysed, sys- 

 tematic training must be given in 

 composition. The "chancy" nature 

 of written examinations must be 

 counteracted and the handicap of 

 ill-health or nervousness removed 

 by calling into council the teacher 

 and learning the pupil's past 

 record. Individual ability must 

 be drawn out of the examination 

 crowd by combining oral and prac- 

 tical tests with written answers. 

 Multiplicity must give place to 

 equivalence of school leaving and 

 entrance examinations. The uni- 

 versity rewards which are now the 

 Dead Sea fruit of a sterile facility 

 in passing examinations, must be 

 given in future to men and women 

 who have proved their ability to 

 " teach " and to " discover " by 

 actual performances. 



In conclusion, examinations do 

 not show men and women how to 

 teach or write in the higher sense ; 

 but they do train them how to set 

 down, clearly, succinctly, and 

 rapidly, the facts which they havs 

 acquired and retained. If such 



persons are not born with creative 

 power, this acquired knowledge 

 becomes mere "learned lumber." 

 But, if they are born to do and to 

 make, the acquisitions of the ex- 

 amination course and the habits 

 of the examination hall may enable 

 them to lay the foundation of deeds 

 and works which the world will 

 inscribe upon its scroll of honour. 

 See Education ; School ; University. 



W. K. Hill 



Examiner of Plays. Official 

 acting on behalf of the Lord Cham- 

 berlain, who has the theatres under 

 his jurisdiction. A copy of every 

 new piece, or alterations of old 

 pieces intended to be revived, must 

 be forwarded to him seven clear 

 days before the intended produc- 

 tion. No alteration of the text, 

 when licensed, is permitted with- 

 out express sanction. The selec- 

 tion of Charles Hallam Brookfield 

 (q.v.) for the post in 1911 in suc- 

 cession to G. H. Bedford amused 

 many people and shocked others, 

 for he had at one time been one of 

 the chief adapters of frankly non- 

 moral French comedies for the 

 English stage, his Dear Old Charley 

 (Newcastle, 1906), in particular, 

 enjoying a succes de scandale. He 

 was succeeded by George S. Street, 

 the critic and essayist, appointed 

 Dec. 30, 1913< See Censorship. 



Exarch (Gr. exarchos, leader). 

 In Byzantine history, a title 

 specially applied to the military 

 governor of the district of Ravenna 

 in Italy. The exarch has been com- 

 pared to the viceroy of India. The 

 direct representative of the em- 

 peror, he commanded the troops, 

 controlled the civil administration 

 and finance, and exercised great 

 influence in ecclesiastical affairs. 

 The exarchate of Ravenna lasted 

 from 584-752. 



There was also an exarch of 

 Africa, the earliest mention of whom 

 occurs in 591. The name exarch 

 was also given to a dignitary of the 

 church who held a position below 

 that of the patriarch, but above 

 that of the metropolitan, and to the 

 head of certain monasteries, and 

 survives as the title of the patri- 

 arch of Bulgaria. 



Excalibur. King Arthur's 

 magic sword ; called Caliburn and 

 made in the isle of Avalon. In the 

 Morte d' Arthur the King takes 

 the sword from the hand of the 

 Lady of the Lake, and learns that 

 its name signifies Cut-Steel, and 

 that while he has the scabbard he 

 can never be sore wounded and 

 cannot lose blood. When stricken 

 down in the final battle, Arthur 

 commanded that the sword be 

 thrown into the lake, where it was 

 caught by a hand and vanished. 

 See Morte d' Arthur, 



