ADDRESS. IxXXvii 



"When there is felt to be a real want of any new institution for the promo- 

 tion of learning, men are usually wUling enough to devote time and money 

 to the purpose of establishing it and giving it a fair trial. It is desirable 

 that they should leave the State to judge of their experiment by its results, 

 and to maintain it or not, according to the evidences of its usefulness. No 

 institution ought, for its own sake, to have such permanent endowments as 

 might deprive its members of motives for exertion. 



The State could not, however, discharge these judicial functions without 

 accurate and trustworthy evidence of the educational work done at the various 

 schools and of its success. Por this purpose a record must be kept by or 

 under the direction of every teacher of the weekly progress of each pupU, 

 showing what he has done and how he has done it. Official inspectors would 

 have to see to these records being kept upon a uniform scale, so that their 

 results might be comparable. The habit of keeping such records conduces 

 powerfully to the efficiency of teachers ; and, for the sake of the due develop- 

 ment of the teaching system, it ought to prevail generally. Having such full 

 and accui'ate means of knowing what opportunities of improvement jrapils 

 have enjoyed and what use they have made of those opportunities, Govern- 

 ment ought to stimulate their exertions and test their progress by periodical 

 examinations. It is of the utmost importance to allow any new and improved 

 system of instruction to develope itself freely, by the exertions of those who 

 are willing to undertake the labour and risk of trying it on a practical scale ; 

 and the pupils who acquire upon sivAi new system a command of any branch 

 of science, ought to have a fair opportunity of showing what they have 

 achieved and how they have achieved it. An able and impartial examiner, 

 knowing the new systems in use, will encourage each candidate to work out 

 his results in the manner in which he has been taught to work out results 

 of the kind. 



Examinations thus impartiallj'^ conducted with a view of testing the suc- 

 cess of teachers iu the work which they are endeavouring to do, have a far 

 higher value, and consequent authority, than those which are conducted in 

 ignorance or disregard of the process of training to which the candidates have 

 been subjected ; and we may safely say that the examination system will not 

 attain its full usefulness until it is thus worked in intimate connexion with a 

 system of teaching. 



In order to give every one employed in the educational system the utmost 

 interest in maintaining and increasing his efficiency, it is essential that a 

 due measure of publicity be given to the chief results of their respective 

 labours. Schools and colleges ought, to a considerable extent, to be supported 

 b)' the fees paid by pupUs for the instruction received ; and every Professor 

 being in part dependent upon the fees of his pupils Avill have a direct interest 

 in attracting more pupils to his classes or laboratories. The fame of important 

 original investigations of his own or his pupils, published in the scientific 

 journals, is one of the natural means by which a distinguished Professor 

 attracts disciples, and the success of his pupils in after life is another. His 

 prospects of promotion will depend mainly on the opinion formed of his 

 powers from such materials as these by the governing bodies of colleges and 

 bj- the public ; for if each college is dependent for success upon the efficiency 

 of its teaching staff, its governing body must do their best to till up every 

 vacancy as it arises by the ajipointment of the ablest and most successful 

 Professor whom they can get ; and any college which does not succeed in 

 obtaining the services of able men will soon lose reputation, and fall off in 

 numbers. 



