The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-08 00:00:00

With the exception of a few grammar schools here and there
the business has been left to private enterprise. And there
could be nothing better if only the buyer were always qua-
lified to judge of the article in which he invests, but that is
not the case. Many fathers have not the leisure or the will
to investigate very carefully the qualifications of the school-
master. Those who have made their own way in the world,
and happily they aro a class more numerous in England
than in any other country, except perhaps the colonies—
naturally wish their children to have a better education
than they had themselves. And they are willing to give a
good plies, but they are liable to be duped by any confi-
dent pretender, and they went some test by which to know
a good school from a bad one. That test is supplied by
these examinations. I do not hesitate to say that during
the six years of their existence they have done more
to expose bad schools and to bring good ones into
notice than any other machinery that could be devised for
the purpose—(cheers)—for they have put not the lads but
their masters upon their trial, and it is not easy to see in
our state of society what other agency could have accom-
plished so much. Government inspection is very well for
schools that get help from the State, and great national
foundations, such as the universities and public schools,
may from time to time be subjected to the supervision—
cautiously and monerately exercised—of Parliament or of
the Executive, but we should never endure in England to
have Government interfering with private teaching estab-
lishments, and I may say for one that we ought not to en-
dure it. (Hear.) The plan that has been adopted is open
to no such objection. It is perfectly voluntary. No scl.ool
need send any candidates unless the masters choose. It
implies no independence, and it leaves the teaching abso-
lutely free. It simply marks out for honour and distinction
those schools in which the most accurate and effective
teaching is given ; for I believe it will be found that in this
as in all such trials, where they are properly managed, suc-
cess depends far less on the amount which is supposed to be
known than on the thoroughness of the knowleage attained.
(Cheers.) It is in that respect that our University system
is thoroughly sound and good. There will always be dis-
putes as to what are the fittest subjects for boys and young
men to study—for the field is vast, time is short, and life is
busy; but I think there can be no dispute as to the sound-
ness of the rule which every Oxford or Cambridge exami-
ner lays down—to take no account of, to ignore and pass
over altogether any answer which is not accurate and pre-
cise as fax as it goes. That is, I think, the very best part
of mental training that University men get in early life.
To know what it is we know, and where our knowledge
ends—to use the plainest and most simple English words
that will convey the meaning, neither more nor less—to
avoid vague general terms, which carry with them no defi•
nite idea, but only sound well, and remind one of what is
called " fine writing"—these are the marks by which we in-
stinctively know an educated from a half-educated man,
whether in his writing or in his speech. And why ? Because
these are the signs of a man having mastered his subjeet,of
his having trained himselt to think and to express his
thoughts. (Cheers.) And when a man has done that, he
is sure to be worth hearing. The misfortune is that we so
often come across people who can find words about anything
and everything—words which in the mouths of those from
whom they picked them up had a very real and definite sig-
nificance, but which are repeated with only a half under-
standing of what they imply. (Hear.) I think that habit
of talking and thinking at second hand is one which our
customs in the present day necessarily encourage. Nobody
doubts that there is a vast amount of mental activity in
English society; everything is written about, everything
is discussed, conversation and reading spread themselves
over a range of topics which would have utterly astonished
and perplexed our forefathers. The first-class newspapers
alone are probably read collectively by more than half a mil-
lion persons—l speak of those only who read them habitually
and with understanding. Ido not say that such a state of
things is unfavourable to original thought. Original thinkers
are rare in every time, and they can take carp of themselves.
However thick the crowd may be, there is always room for
those who can pass over other men's heads. And Ido not
complain of the great mass of half-knowledge, and superfi-
cial knowledge,for that is better than mere lethergy and stag-
nation. But undoubtedly our intellectual clangers in the pre-
sent day lie not on the side of a culture too narrow and exclu-
sive, as formerly, but rather on. that of spreading our atten-
tion oiler 100 subjects instead of concentrating it upon a few.
Perhaps you will think that in saying this 1 am frrgetting
the question of schools; but I advert to it because it is a
part of my case. As the boy is so is the man. Accuracy
and thoroughness rather than variety and superficiality is

the point to be insisted upon, and this is precisely what a
good system of examination tends to develop°. The Arch.,
bishop of York said lately, and I quite agree with him, at
a meeting held for this seine purpose, that there is no test
of knowledge like the pen. One may have " strong
opinions," as the phrase goes, upon some question, and
imagine one understands it thoroughly, but it is surprising,
when one sits down to write about it, how the consciousness
of imperfect or uncertain, or perhaps wholly deficient in-
formation comes upon one, and how much there is to be
supplied of which one would never have felt the want in
mere conversation. It is a commonplace to quote Lord
Bacon's saying—how that " reading makes a full man,
speech a ready man, and writing an exact man ;" but
though a commonplace, it is one of those sayings which
occur to one's mind because so exactly and universally true,
Do not fancy that this question of accuracy is unimportant.
I doubt if any man ever made himself eminent in any line
of business—except, perhaps, as a popular speaker or
preacher—who was habitually careless in his habits of
thought. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.) The habit of
verifying facts before we accept them, with that which
necessarily follows upon it, the habit of suspending our
judgment where facts are not precisely known, and utterly
distrusting the first vague impressions we form, is not very
common even among educated classes, and upon that habit,
perhaps more than we think, both of our social comfort and
of our political wellbeing depends. Where every wild report
finds easy belief, where people rush to conclusions from hear-
ing one side of a story without waiting to learn the other,
where there is a general impatience to believe or disbelieve
without sufficient grounds for either, there one security is
wanting both against political exaggeration and against
individual injustice. I look on cultivation of what I may
call our "judging faculties" as one of the very first duties
which civilization imposes on the members of a community,
for though we may not all be magistrates or politicians or
jurymen, we all have to sit in judgment, as it were, on one
another—it is the necessary condition of social life—and to
weigh doubtful evidence in cases which concern ourselves.
Now, that power of judgment is not born in us. It has to
do, lam free to admit, with the moral as well as the
intellectual nature, and depends on temperament to
some extent. But it is an intellectual quality also,
and as such the result of experience and mental training.
The first condition is to get clearly and exactly the
facts before you; the next, to use the reasoning faculties
upon them. Now, it is in enabling men to do these things
that school teaching is mainly useful. Whether the form
adopted bo mathematical—t he study of figures and symbols,
or the study of language—the intention is the same. Ques-
tions properly put will discover whether memory and atten-
tion have been exercised in supplying the materials for an-
swers, and whether those materials have been turned to
account—whether what has been read has been digested
also, And hero let me say that I think the duty of an exa-
miner is to give the least possible prominence to—he cannot
exclude altogether—such questions as test the mere me-
chanical power of recollecting only, without any indepen-
dent action of the answerer's mind. (Applause.) You dont
want to know what a boy has learnt by rote ; you want to
see what use he can make of it That test is equally applied
whether a lad is set to show his knowledge of a foreign
language, or to work a mathematical problem. But it is not
applied when the thing he is required to do is to answer a
variety of queries as to facts and dates, not always in them-
selves important, which may be, and often are, got up for
the occasion, and forgotten directly after. (Cheers.) That
kind of cramming, for it is nothing else, has no doubt the
merit of saving trouble to the teachers ; but it is mental la-
bour and training of the lowest kind, and is more apt than
anything else to create a disgust to reading in after life.
(Hear.) I notice this all the more because some reference is
made to the subject in the last Oxford report on these exa-
minations. I find the examiners say of the theological
teaching, " By far the most general defect was the almost
entire absence of any intelligent knowledge" of the matters
which had been verbally learnt. They go on--" Words
which boys use or hear every Sunday convey either no
meaning to their minds or a wrong one." Of the mathe-
matical part they say that "it is generally sufficient
in quantity, but there is a want of intelligence displayed
wherever the text is reproduced verbatim," In an earlier
report they speak of candidates who have " a verbal ac-
quaintance with the rules of grammar, but who utterly fail
is their application." And they end with a sentence which
conveys the whole moral of that which I have been trying
to urge upon you. "More marks would be gained and the
process would be more beneficial to the candidates were they
to confine their reading within narrower limits, selecting
one or mere of the optional subjects and learning them tho-
roughly, instead of endeavouring to obtain a less acquaint-
ance with the whole." (Hear, hear.) Now, lam glad to
cite these passages, partly for their own value, partly also
because they answer an objection which I have often heard
—that examinations promote cramming; meaning by that
word a temporary pretence of knowledge which is got up to
serve a special purpose, and useless in all other respects.
Not only do I believe that not to be the truth, but I believe
it is the very opposite of the truth. Cramming implies just
that show and parade of things superficially acquired which
may impose upon parents who have forgotten their own
early teaching, but which will never impose on an examiner
who understands his business. (Hear.) The fault or the ten-
dency to the fault is in the school; the detection of it is the
duty of the examiner who tests the school. There is one
more word I have to say on a matter connected with
this. Many sensible people are afraid that by the its-
creased stimulus of a wider competition we shall tempt
young boys to hurt their health by over-reading. That
is a reasonable apprehension, but it admits of an answer.
Overwork is seldom good work. We used to say when I
was an undergraduate at Cambridge that anybody who
had it in him to become a senior wrangler might become
one—that is, might obtain the highest distinction in one
kind which the university can give—by reading steadily
six hours a day. I believe that was true, and I hold it
certain that those, whether boys or men, who hurt their
health by over-study are not those who labour steadily, or at
a moderate pace, but those who neglect healthy exercise
an' care in other respects, and more especially those who.
having been idlers for the greater part of their time, try
and make up lost ground by a desperate push at the last.
(Hear.) And now a word as to the success which these ex-
aminations have met with. It has been stated in the report
that after the first year (i 858) the number of candidates fell
off, and has only just reached its original level. The
juniors were 750 in 1858, 573 in 1850, and 762 in the past
year. Does that imply failure? I think not. It shows
that a great many came up not in the least knowing what
to expect, and having had some unpleasant experience in
the first year did not care to try again. (A laugh.) Out
of the first 750 only 280 passed, and no wonder that there
should have been some reluctance to incur such exposure.
But the effect has been good ; for of the 762 who went up
last year 487 have passed, being a proportion of about 64
per cent., whereas the proportion in 1858 was only 31 per
cent. I take the returns of the junior candidates only in
similar general result. You cannot have a better mea-
est
hurre
ar
yearlyonfo tt
htoe
multiply
figures ; but the others would give a
improvement in the art of teaching which
comparisons between school and school have
created ; and when one considers that no class of men,
however excellent, like to have their pretensions criticised
and their shortcomings made public, least of all those who
exercise a kind of authority on a small scale, it seems to me
singular, and creditable to the schoolmasters as a body, that
so little opposition has been made in any quarter to the
whole scheme. I shall detain you no further, but only men-
tion before I sit down that Manchester holds in these exami-
nations, as might be expected from the character of its
people, a place considerably higher than the average. You
sent up last year 157 candidates in all out of 1,029 from all
parts of England' that is, in round numbers, more than one-
seventh of the whole ; and if I assume that for this pur-
pose Manchester represents all the neighbouring towns, with
a population of perhaps a million altogether (Liverpool and
Leeds being both rival centres), you will have one-seventh
of the total number of students from one-twentieth of the
total population. So much for the numbers examined.
In point of success you stand a little, though only a little,
above the average, having passed 68 per cent. as compared
with a general average of 61 per cent. lam justified, there-
fore, in affirming that on your part a certain superiority
exists. But while I say that I must add also that, as a
Lancashire man, I shall not be satisfied, and I think you
ought not to be satisfied, until we make it more marked and
more decisive. (Cheers.) It rests with you to accomplish
that ; the power is there. The will lam certain is not
wanting; all that is needed is to keep alive a strong and
healthy public interest in the matter, and that such interest
exists your presence here, the numbers that have met in
this room to-day, the character of this audience, and the
increasing popularity of these yearly gatherings are a suffi-
cient and satisfactory proof. (Loud applause.)
Mr. BAZLEY, M.P., and Mr. Tinternn, M I'., briefly ad-
dressed the meeting. Mr. Pender, M.P., was also present.
A vote of thanks to Lord Stanley for presiding termi-
nated the proceedings.

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