F.—No. 1.

My experience is, that educated men who have not been during some part of their lives so engaged are rather apt to judge boys harshly, and by too high a standard. I observe that the I'iiblic Schools Commissioners notice this tendency in their report. As to the constitution of the Board for appointing examiners, I will offer some observations in answer to the question as to the advisability of establishing a New Zealand University. 4.] Considering the fact that the majority of the young men obtaining the contemplated scholarships, would, when they arrived at home, be responsible to no one on the spot, 1 think that those Universities in which the students arc immediately under the control of tutors should be preferred. A scholarship would be held only quamdiu bene se gesserit, and good behaviour could be most conveniently ascertained at these Universities; moreover, the two English Universities where these advantages arc to be found command a high and deserved reputation, and are national in the largest sense of the word. I should, however, be unwilling to exclude the colonial scholars from the benefits which might be derived from attendance at the University of Edinburgh, the pre-eminence of which, in physical science, is indisputable. Those scholars who had friends in Scotch University towns might, on condition that they resided with their friends, be permitted to attend the courses in Edinburgh or elsewhere. St. Andrew's now has a hall conducted on the same principles as an English college. The London University is I believe an examining, and not a teaching body. I know nothing whatever of the working of Trinity College, Dublin. I am, also, unable to speak of the Continental Universities, but it seems to me only right and fair, that parents should be permitted to name the Universities to which their sons should proceed, subject always to the approval of the Board, of which I have already spoken, and on condition, in case of their naming a University where the tutorial system docs not exist, that they shew that their son will be under the control of relatives or other proper persons. A part of the population of this Colony is drawn from countries without Great Britain, and it has been suggested to me, on high authority, that it would be very much to the advantage of the Colony, that young men of foreign extraction should, with the restrictions I have named, be permitted to proceed to their national Universities. Such liberality would bring the Colony under the notice of foreigners in a manner not unlikely to attract eminent men, and the introduction of educated foreigners into our country must have a tendency to widen and improve the national mind. 5.] Two hundred a year was in my own time considered sufficient to include every necessary expense of residence at Oxford. I do not think that men from the public schools, although their friends are usually wealthy, had in most instances more than this, except perhaps during the last year, when private tuition (€3O or ,€4O per annum) is certainly desirable. A Colonial scholar would have to provide for himself during the vacations, and, as I think, he should be under a tutor during his vacations, I do not think he could make the most of the advantages of that University under €250 per annum. A reading man's expenses at Cambridge seem beyond a doubt to be considerably higher than at Oxford, from the necessity, which seems to be admitted on all hands, of reading with a private tutor from the time of matriculation. But Ido not think that the Legislature of the Colony could be accused of acting illiberally if it gave to the scholars an annual sum, amply siifficient to secure every advantage which Oxford can offer, leaving it to them to supplement the Colonial scholarships from their private means, if they preferred to proceed to Cambridge. A fair sum for outfit find passage home should also be provided if possible. Some inducement might perhaps be held out to students who wished to turn their long vacations and non-resident terms to advantage by attending courses of lectures at Edinburgh or in London. It may interest the Committee to learn that under the present regulations of the • Indian Civil Service the successful candidates are detained two years in England, for the first of which they receive £100, and for the second .€2OO. 6.] As to " the subjects of the competition/ the first thing to consider is, the object of the scholarships. This is, I suppose, to raise the level of education in New Zealand by ottering strong inducements to prosecute higher branches of study, and to continue in statupupillari longer than is now usual. The examination for these scholarships will, I hope, form the type of New Zealand school education. Care should therefore be taken that it be sufficiently wide. Accordingly, I would allow no boy to compete in Mathematics who could not pass a fair preliminary examination in Classics, at the very least in Latin, and in the same way I should insist vipon the classical competitor passing a thorough examination in Arithmetic, and at least one book of Euclid. Marks in these subjects should certainly be counted. English composition should have a high value. I find the easiest method of examination in this subject to be to read to the candidate a passage from some French or German writer in the least idiomatic and baldest form for him to reproduce in his own language, this might easily be done by the person appointed to superintend, or by precis writing, or by an essay upon a subject taken from some period of history whicli has been especially prepared for the purpose; strictly original composition I believe to be an impossibility for boys. I should also include an easy examination in English Literature, in English History, and in Geography. I should permit a candidate to offer himself for examination in French and German. All these subjects should, however, be subordinate to Classics and Mathematics, although as forming part of school education, they should also form a part of the examination. I should exclude Verse Composition in both Latin and Greek,

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REPORT OP THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON THE