234 THE ADDRESSES, LECTURES, ETC., OP 



ness of their armour-plates and the perfection of their engines for 

 the destruction of one another. 



These institutions, therefore, for the spread of science and art 

 education had become an absolute necessity, and having been 

 once taken up in this country, not under the absolute super- 

 intendence of the Government, but by the aid of the Government, 

 with a certain amount of supervision they were sure to lead to 

 greater results than if they had simply followed the lead of some 

 continental nations who looked to their governments only for the 

 establishment of such schools. 



There was one point which he might perhaps be allowed to 

 cah 1 attention to, and that was the education of the schoolmasters 

 themselves. No doubt there were many excellent schoolmasters 

 busy now in the different schools of art and science, but he 

 thought that something would have to be done to produce 

 teachers of really high efficiency in greater numbers. It was 

 there that the shoe pinched at the present time. It was one 

 thing to know a subject sufficiently well to pass an examination 

 in it, but it was quite another thing to be able to teach that art 

 or science to others. In order to do so, teachers must not only 

 know absolutely what they taught, but they must know also what 

 relation there was between that branch of science and other 

 sciences. A teacher must in fact be a man of general education. 

 There was, he thought, still much room for improvement in this 

 respect. 



The first prizes he had to present were given to young 

 ladies and these were, he thought, the very best prizes of all, 

 seeing that they were gained in a national competition in London. 

 They were art prizes, but they knew also that young ladies had 

 taken prizes for electricity and magnetism, and other branches of 

 science which showed how capable they were of grappling with 

 science as well as art. The interest that ladies took in the present 

 day in all branches of education was moreover shown by the fact 

 that the school board in London was now composed of two thirds 

 gentlemen and one third ladies. This showed also that the ladies 

 were perfectly capable of discharging many duties which were 

 confined formerly entirely to men. 



Referring to the working of telegraphic machines, he said he 

 believed that young women were quicker than men at that work, 



