TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 



215 



increased. The following Table exhibits this comparative position of the results 

 for 1858 and 1859 :— 



The ages of these Candidates varied from 16 to 47. The following Table has 

 been compiled from the return papers of 525 candidates, 480 of whom underwent 

 the final examination : — 



The return paper also exhibited the number of years the various candidates had 

 spent at school. It appeared from this important portion of the returns that a 

 prolonged period of school life was by no means the most satisfactory indication of 

 educational progress. Many candidates had not only obtained first-class certificates, 

 but had even carried away prizes, whose school attendance was far below the 

 average ; and, on the whole, it would appear that the instruction afforded by Me- 

 chanics' Institutes, and other educational agencies, subsequent to the school period, 

 was equally valuable, if not more so, than that usually given during the last few- 

 years of school life. If we coidd get young workmen to avail themselves of this 

 secondary education, there could be little doubt but that a short period of ele- 

 mentary school attendance woidd not be so serious an evil as was generally sup- 

 posed. Even with the present imperfect condition of Mechanics' Institutes, the re- 

 sults of the Society of Arts' Examination supplied ample evidence to prove, at least, 

 this important fact, that we should not attempt to estimate the educational position 

 of the working-classes merely by looking to the census returns, or to the official 

 reports on school attendance. Hitherto we had no opportunity of ascertaining what 

 eflect Mechanics' Institutes produced. Although our presentjnformation was not as 

 extensive as coidd be wished, it was sufficient to indicate the great value of institu- 

 tional instruction. 



On Decimal Coinage. By It. L. Johnson. 



