The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-12-20 00:00:00

THE

intention of organizing, with the help of the other
masters,arrangernents for imparting a military education.
He could now infornthis lordship and the public, that
these arrangements were now matured, and that they
were fully competent to train pupils for open competition
at Woolwich, and for the East India Company's College
at Addiscornhe, and for those examinations which were
necessary on receiving commissions in the line. (Ape
plause.) He had made it his business lately to visit
certain places of military education, and to avail himself
of certain sources of information open to him with regard
to the modifications which military education was likely
to go through, and from what had happened, he believed
it would be found more, and as his lordship had expressed
it, that the basis of a good education should he laid,
before special education could begin in the military
colleges. The open competition at Woolwich was one
of the first steps towards a change, which, be believed,
would produce great and beneficial results in the country
at large. It was not merely in the army, properly so
called, that the prieciole of competition was beginning
to work. Besides that army, there was also an army of
50,000 civil servants, and the manner in which they
were formerly nominated was well known to ail.No banker
or merchant would receive into their establishments
clerks so appointed, and the result was that the work of
the country was neither well nor economically done.
He spoke of this subject not as a citizen or a clergy-
man, but as a schoolmaster, and he felt that if such a mode
of appointment as formerly prevailed, and still to a
large extent prevailed, were put an end to, the public
service would be done better and more economically, and
a great change for the better would be produced. Ile
believed they were on the eve of such a change. About
eighteen months' ago, by an order in council, a civil
service commission was appointed, having in its service I
a very large number of the first scholars, to examine
candidates, and if any proof were wanted of the unsatis-
factory state of the previous mode of appointments, it
would be found in the blue-book issued by the coot.
mission, containing specimens of the false spelling by
candidates for the civil service, and who no doubt were
not below the average of those who were appointed
before as a matter of course. The examination at
present was of the nature of a test, but it was rapidly
moving towards a competing one. He considered that
Mr. William 'Ewan Gladstone's speech on the 25th of
April last, was unanswerable on the subject of compet-
ing examinations, and their importance to the
country, and on that occasion the Chancellor of the
Exchequer (Sir Cornwall Lewis) gave a pledge that
the competition principle would in due time be brought
into play. The Rev. gentleman then dwelt on the bene-
ficial:action which the competition principle in examina-
tions for public situations would have on schools, and
mentioned that even at present the test examination had
a sensible effect on the schools, not even excepting the
night schools. In conclusion, he mentioned that with
the three divinity prizes there aro to be given three
medals, one gold, one silver, and the third bronze, which
were granted by a gentleman whose name he was not at
liberty to mention. They were to be called the " Brooks'
Medal," in memory of the late Archdeacon, and bore the
likeness of that distinguished divine. (Applause).
The prizes, of which the following is a list, were then
delivered
UPPER SCHOOL.

CLass PRIZES.—CIass 1. Classics,—Rawdon G ; 2, Jones
RD ; 3, Sirdefield ; 3, Mod, Elliot ; 4, Aked,—cert., Cor-
deaux ; 4, Mod, Hughes,—cart., Gough ; 5, Moore, J M,
transferred to Cleaver,—cert., Michod, F ; 6, Barrett, J,—
cert , Hargreaves ; 7, Ferguson,—cert., Kirkby ; 8, --,
cert., Vernon ; certificates, E Kearsley and C Mathe-
matics, Ist Sinker, —cert., Edwards ; 2nd, Pendlebury,
cert., Rounthwaite, J F ; 3, Lobley,—cert., Statham, G ; 4,
Peel.
SPECIAL PRlZES.—Brook's Divinity medal : M'Niole, E.
H. : History : Wilson, B. W. ; French : Moore, J. B ,
French and German,—cert, Tarbet ; Rounthwaite, F.,—cert,
Sirdefield ; Fairclough,—cart, Makin ; Clough,—cert, Barrett,
J. ; Sirdefield ; Howat, French and German ; Dawkin ;
Morris ; Tennant ; Brown ; Writing : Jones, T. D.,—cert,
Hall ; Michod, P.,—cert, Shannon, Cartwright, T., Moore,
J. M., Peel, H., Kearsley, T. H., Lawrence; Drawing :
Peel, J. C., transferred to Hughes,—cert, Tarbet, P.; Sirde-
field,—cert, Wilson, A. ; Cordeaux,—cert, Cleaver, Barrett,
J., Michod, P., and Lawrence.
EXTRA PRIZES.—Greek verse (Senior Classical Master) :
Rawdon, G ; English verse (Old Pupils) : Swift ; Uniform
Industry (Mr. Hiley) : ('ordeaux ; Grecian History (NV.
Tarbet, Esq ) : Tennant ; Good Conduct (Mr. Hart) : Law-
rence; French (M. Vittoz) : Makin : Arithmetic, junior
classes (Vice Principal) : Dawkin.