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professorships would require to be greatly increased, but meanwhile very con- 

 siderable benefit would result from the establishment of even a few of them. 



At present the study of languages is so far provided for, that we might 

 rather look to the physical sciences, as claiming first attention • and it so 

 happens that this accords well with the necessities and the demands of colonial 

 life. 



Natural history is the first department which ought to be provided for, and 

 then mathematics, natural philosophy, and chemistry. English language and 

 literature might be taught in alternate years with logic and rhetoric, by the 

 same professor. Modern history and political economy would form a fourth 

 department. And to these would be added, from time to time, the remaining 

 branches, as necessity for them arose, and the means were provided. 



The suggestion which was thrown out during the last session of the 

 General Assembly, that lectureships might, in the meanwhile, be established, 

 at a moderate cost and with very great advantage, seems still to be worthy of 

 consideration, and within our immediate reach. By these means our own 

 Museum would form the nucleus of an important institution, which might 

 gradually develope into a complete college, and constitute no mean branch of a 

 Colonial University. 



I have purposely avoided any reference, at present, to the question of 

 professional education, in law, medicine, and civil engineering : but it is 

 apparent that the course now sketched out would be of very material, direct 

 benefit to the students of these departments. 



The method of instruction is a wide and quite distinct subject, requiring to 

 be considered with regard to the peculiarities of each branch of knowledge. This 

 may form the subject of a second paper, if leisure and the other engagements 

 of the Institute permit. 



Art. XLVII. — On the General Principles of an Education Scheme for 

 New Zealand. By W. S. Hamilton, Mathematical Master, Wellington 

 College and Grammar School. 



[Author's Abstract of Paper read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 

 November 13, 1869.] 



This paper first reviews the position of the question by examining existing 

 circumstances, and enumerates the difficulties surrounding the subject as 

 follows : " The mixed nature of society, — people of different countries and 

 creeds ; of different ideas of the object and character of education, and of dif- 

 ferent degrees of education and refinement ; — the population being scattered ; — 

 the difficulty of obtaining trained teachers ; — the high price of labour tempting 

 parents to withdraw their children from school at an early age, and the 

 teachers to abandon their professions for more lucrative pursuits ; — the absence 

 of a standard for teachers to work up to ; — the little interest taken in the 

 teacher's labours, by a heterogeneous and restless population ; — the absence of 

 inducements to study on the part of the pupils, and the difficulty of procuring 

 funds in the absence of foundations and endowments." 



" These complications deter statesmen from considering the subject till 

 necessity compels ; when the educational system of some larger or differently 

 circumstanced community is hastily adopted, without the necessary material 

 on the ground for the construction of the fabric. Disappointment follows, and 

 the result often is, the entire neglect of education for a time. " The provinces 

 of Auckland, Wellington, and Southland are cited as examples of this neglect ; 

 while on the other hand Nelson is referred to as an example of attempting to 

 impart a higher education than is possible or profitable for a young colony. 



