XV THE SCHOOL BOARDS 375 



that he could not carry him to the top of the 

 ladder in his hod. The challenged hodman won 

 his wager, but as the stakes were handed over, the 

 challenger wistfully remarked, "I'd great hopes 

 of falling at the third round from the top." And, 

 in view of the work and the worry which awaits 

 the members of the School Boards, I must confess 

 to an occasional ungrateful hope that the friends 

 who are toiling upwards with me in their hod, 

 may, when they reach " the third round from the 

 top," let me fall back into peace and quietness. 



But whether fortune befriend me in this rough 

 method, or not, I should like to submit to those 

 of whom I am potential, but of whom I may not 

 be an actual, colleague, and to others who may 

 be interested in this most important problem 

 how to get the Education Act to work efficiently 

 some considerations as to what are the duties of 

 the members of the School Boards, and what are 

 the limits of their power. 



I suppose no one will be disposed to dispute the 

 proposition, that the prime duty of every member 

 of such a Board is to endeavour to administer the 

 Act honestly ; or in accordance, not only with its 

 letter, but with its spirit. And if so, it would 

 seem that the first step towards this very desirable 

 end is, to obtain a clear notion of what that letter 

 signifies, and what that spirit implies ; or, in other 

 words, what the clauses of the Act are intended 

 to enjoin and to forbid. So that it is really not 



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