34 CRITIQUES AND ADDRESSES. [n. 



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 a 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 admissible, except for factious and abusive purposes, 

 to assume that any one who endeavours to get at this 

 clear meaning is desirous only of raising quibbles and 

 making difficulties. 



Beading the Act with this desire to understand it, I 

 find that its provisions may be classified, as might 

 naturally be expected, under two heads : the one set 

 relating to the subject-matter of education ; the other to 

 the establishment, maintenance, and administration of 

 the schools in which that .education is to be conducted, 



Now it is a most important circumstance, that all the 

 sections of the Act, except four, belong to the latter 

 division ; that is, they refer to mere matters of adminis- 

 tration. The four sections in question are the seventh, 

 the fourteenth, the sixteenth, and the ninety-seventh. 



