, 1872-02-24
THE E'AVTS."
Striaiiapattd, 81, Sraiz.
SATURDAY 9TH FEBRUARY 1872.
MA
T%continued.]

continued.
In our remarks on these matters in a previ-
Gus issue, we came to the conclusion that in
order to effect any progress in the instruct IN
OF our youth above that to be gained in the
Common School, we must concentrate all our
efforts on one single establishment Of the kind.
We pointed out the way in which that could
be effected to the satisfaction, we hope, of the
moderate retrenchers. The only parties we
cannot meet are the systematic retrenchers,
and the visionary schemers, the first of whom
would cut away all the sources Of progress,
while the latter would scatter them to all the
winds. That the drain on the public revenues
are heavy, compared to that Of some other is
lands, cannot be wondered at, when we bear in
mind the fact that out of the enormous fortunes
made in this island in former years not a single
dollar has been really applied to the further
ance of education in the form of a legacy or the
like. There is, indeed. a kind Of tradition that
a large SchooIfund formerly existed, which was
mersed into the Land Treasury. In 50 doing
the Honorable Burgher Council mast have I'M
dertaken the support of the schools and subSe-
quently the same obligation must have devOlved
on its heir the Colonial Treasuary j.. e. the Coloni-
al Council. But be this as it may, the fact re-
mains that there is now no other available fund
for support of Schools beyond the sum doled out
from the Public Chest-except indeed it were
the capital of $72I8 So belonging to the Fund
for educating teachers" Of which however, we
have never heard a single word beyond this
important fact that the interest thereon is year
ly accruing to the Colonial Treasury. This
being so, it is now left to the Government and
the Council to agree about the magnitude of the
grant, which must be given exclusively from
the Colonial Treasury and its application.
In previous numbers we have tried to point
ont both. We shall now continue by
giving our impressions at the annual ezamina-
tions, hoping, in so doing, to make our readers
understand what internal ameli0rations we
should wish to see made, together with the Or
ganic changes we have suggested,
READING
is pursued in both classes of the present Burgh-
e~r-sohool, and yet the excellence attained is not
generally such as might reasonably be expected
in o good school. The general reason, which
also applies to other branches, is that the school
has sunk down to be for children who have no
business there. These children have not suffi-
cient stimulus at home from their parents,
who, not paying more for this instruction than
for the one received in the Lancasterian school,
which is nothing, think no more of it, and
the children do not even obtain the advantages
there which they would in the Lancasterian
SOAlOOt IOIl OUoUAS WClt uIluOlSUUUu ny Nti4rIt-
men, but which would be too technical for
Newspaper-articles. Another reason, which
also affects other branches, is the before
mentioned dollhouse preparation given to
children in private schools in order to get them
admitted as quickly as possible into the Burgher-
school. How deleteriOuS to the development
of the thinking powers such an early drilling in
the art Of reading without understanding must
be, can easily be conceived. That nothing has
been done as yet to remedy the evil is moro
difficult to understand.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR.
The instruction given in this branch might be
rendered more profitable to the scholars, if it
were made to have a more direct bearing upon
their practical use of the language-teaching
them to avoid the ordinary inaccuracies liable
to be committed, and giving them the lements
and basis of a correct and easy style, not only
of composition but Of discourse. This, in our
opinion, would in a great measure result from
a thorough course of syntactical correction, and
the practical construction of sentences, even if