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Review, that the competitive system had been of great benefit 

 both to the Home and Indian Civil Services. As to the other 

 point the attitude of pupil and teacher, he would be brief — he 

 quite agreed with the essayist that this should be one of com- 

 plete trust, but he could assure him that trust existed in nearly 

 all the secondary schools of the United Kingdom ; he knew no 

 school in which distrust and ill-will reigned between teacher 

 and taught. Of the primary schools he knew less but 

 believed that the essayist's picture was too dark also for these- 

 In the secondary schools he would repeat, we have at present 

 exactly the attitude desired by the essayist. 



Mr. James O'Neill said that education would never 

 advance, i.e. children would never be truly educated, unless 

 parents took a greater and more intelligent interest in their 

 education. Hitherto parents have been fully satisfied if 

 examinations were successfully passed, or prizes gained ; totally 

 indifferent to the amount of education given, or whether 

 " cramming " has been resorted to or not. Teachers have been 

 more faithful to their duties regarding this matter of education 

 than parents, despite every temptation to the contrary, and 

 " cramming " exists much less than is thought. To whatever 

 extent it does exist, however, is due to those arranging our 

 Intermediate and University Curriculum, as the course pre- 

 scribed cannot be learned in the time specified, unless in the 

 case of those previously well taught in the given subjects ; so 

 that the men appointed by the State to draw up our educa- 

 tional programme are much to blame in this matter. Let us 

 now blame no more, but, as Mr. Brown has clearly, and I must 

 heartily say, truly set before us the best method of gaining in 

 the shortest time a true education ; let us avail ourselves of it. 

 First, with regard to parents, let us shew them the advantages 

 and pleasures of true education, by such means as our University 

 Extension Lectures offer. Then let us next propose as our 

 highest or ideal education for the young, a general knowledge 

 of the external world, and also of man's work there, i. e. an 

 intelligent knowledge of Astronomy, Geology, Botany, Zoology, 

 and Chemistry, on the one hand ; and of History, and Litera- 



