The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-09 00:00:00

a particular branch of knowledge is to be acquired,
it is essential that the master should himself be a
proficient in it. A mere smattering will not do;
he should be rooted and grounded in it, or he can
never urge on his pupil and speak with that autho-
rity which the occasion demands, and which supe-
rior attainments can alone command. As we find
here particularised in the remarks before us, there
is a great advantage in a University education, on
account of the " mental training" it imparts ; and
by these examinations those who do not expect to
gain those advantages can yet profit in some
degree from the sprit that there rules pre-eminent.
Some of the flashy writers of the day, and
some of the grandiloquent orators, would do well to
con over the passage in this address which apper-
tains to the merits of conciseness and simplicity.
This faculty seems to have disappeared from among
us in many quarters. So long as the sentences are
inflated and the language flowery, the composer
thinks he is doing wonders. " Fine writing," it
may be, but not characterised by sense, solidity, or
discretion. It is this which makes it so very impor-
tant that in early life a proper training be exercised,
and the greatest care be taken to effect the desi-
deratum that is known, is thoroughly and effi-
ciently acquired, and so obtained as to be of service
to the learner when he has quitted the halls of study,
and in the great highway of the world has to put
his theories into practice, and to prove the value of
the studies of early life. Lord STANLEY then went on
to say, that exactness was a sure test of knowledge
being properly rooted in the mind, and that many
who, though they understood every subject they
talked about, would find the difference if they tried
to write on some of them. The Archbishop
of YORK said that there " was no test of
knowledge like the pen," and he was right,
for it is impossible to put in other people's
phrases and to borrow ideas so easily as in talking.
Lord BACON'S remarks that " Reading makes a full
man, speech a ready man, and writing an exact
man," is full of meaning, and all who wish to be
grounded in their acquirements and to set others
in the right direction, should follow its suggestion.
The notion that examiners should as little as pos-
sible choose the questions which only test the
memory and do not work the mind, is a very good
one, and the noble lord laid great stress upon it.
" You don't want to knew what a boy has learnt,
but what use he can make of it," said he, and surely
this is the aim, end, and object of all examinations.
The youthful prodigy or the slow one at school ex-
hibitions seldom, if ever, turns out the shrewd ob-
server, the deep thinker, or the practical worker in
after life who benefits society with his thoughts, his
discoveries, or his suggestions. The " cramming "
system is ruinous to all who attempt it; it is a waste
of labour for the present, and does great injuries as
regards the future, for it creates a distaste for learn-
ing that is disastrous in the extreme to the pros-
pects of the student, and fatal to the chance of his
attaining distinction hereafter, or even maintaining
his ground among those of a mediocre proficiency.
The examiners say, in their report, that the candi-
dates would do better, and gain more credit, if they
confined themselves to one or more of the " optional
subjects," and did not take so wide a range. It is
to be hoped that this advice will be extensively fol-
lowed by those to whom it is given, for nothing is
so bad, in every sense of the word, as the practice
now so prevalent of attempting a great deal in a
very superficial manner. Lord STANLEY very
properly repudiated the idea that these examina-
tions led to " cramming." That he observed was
just the show and counterfeit of knowledge that
would impose upon pax eats who had forgotten their
early training, but never could deceive an ex-
aminer who knew his business. After some words
on the subject of "overwork," which he
truly said was never "good work," Lord
STANLEY concluded his very comprehensive
speech by adverting to the necessity that existed
for using every exertion to improve and progress.
Manchester stood higher than the average, but still
far more might be done. "The will was not want-
ing ; all that was needed was to keep alive a strong
and healthy public interest in the matter." This
address has certainly given every encouragement
to the efforts now made, and it is earnestly to be
trusted that the excellent advice here given will be
followed, and the wise principles inculcated will
take root in the minds of those whom it imme-
diately concerns, for their purport is to make men
of usefulness to society, and not showy scholars,
whose glory fades away.

The National Shakspere Committee,