F.—No. 1.

not only for the reasons which Mr. J. S. Mill has so admirably expressed in his " Inaugural Lecture," but also for a reason which my own experience has taught me, namely, that the disfavour with which many intelligent persons have been led to regard classical studies, mainly arises from the disproportionate time which verse-making causes them to occupy in English classical schools. Few persons would allow their sons to neglect such subjects as History, Geography, Modern Languages, Mathematics, except for the direct object of gaining a scholarship, and without exclusive attention to Classics no high standard of verse-making can be reached. Consequently, the admission of verse-making into the subjects of competition would have a direct tendency to neutralize that which I conceive the first object of instituting these scholarships, namely, raising the general standard of education. The subjects of the examination, books or portions of books, should be made known at least a year before the. competition. This time is necessary because of the difficulty of obtaining classical and other books in New Zealand. At Oxford it is usual to examine candidates for scholarships in subjects which are not announced before the examination, but I have known the worse man elected through having, by chance, prepared what the better man had, equally by chance, never seen. The general principle to be observed in selecting subjects for the examination and for regulating the competition is, that the examinations should test habits of mind and the development of the faculties rather than actual information. I should at first allow boys of sixteen to compete, though, when the system has been long enough at work to have introduced older boys into our schools, the standard of age should be raised. There are at present very few boys in our schools over sixteen, and, therefore, to make seventeen or eighteen the lowest limit, would, I believe, narrow the field of competitors unduly. I would, however, allow a scholarship to be in abeyance for two or three years, on satisfactory proof being given that the scholar was undergoing special training for a University. The higher limitation should not be over eighteen or nineteen. I would not make the holding of any exhibition or scholarship, Provincial or Colonial, a necessary qualification for candidates. This would have a tendency to permanently lessen the number of competitors, and therefore to obviate that which I believe to be the primary object of the institution of scholarships. Unsuccessful candidates for the preliminary scholarship or exhibition would often be withdrawn at once from school. The candidates should be the children of bond fide settlers in the Colony, and two years' residence in New Zealand a necessary qualification. 7.] I do not think the time has yet arrived for the establishment of a University, at all events as a teaching body, in New Zealand. An efficient University requires a large number of students as well as good Professors, and if possible of students whose antecedents have been widely different. The most efficient Professor would be nearly uselessly employed in lecturing a class of three or four, or half a dozen boys. The action of student upon student, a sufficient number of pupils to make it certain that there is a nucleus of intelligence, arc things essential to successful University teaching. In Otago and Canterbury, and probably in Nelson, Auckland, and some other Provinces, it will be found that what is wanting is less masters to give instruction in the higher branches than pupils of age and cultivation to receive instruction in those branches. I believe that, if the Legislature of New Zealand thought fit to establish a Body Corporate, empowered to grant a classified degree to those who reached a certain standard, and scholarships annually to the two best who reached this standard, this evil would be effectually remedied. There would be no practical difficulty in attaching a substantial value to this degree. It might be made available for the examination of civil servants, legal practitioners, licensed surveyors, and others. Such a body, besides appointing the examiners for scholarships and degrees, might hold all property connected with scientific and educational objects, and would usefully interpose as a permanent body, selected ad hoc, between an Executive with a political tenure, and the scientific and literary endowments of the State. It would infallibly grow into a University in time, and as such a University would resemble most successful institutions in being a natural growth and not artificial or exotic, would be based upon the ascertained requirements of the Colony as they made themselves known, and not upon preconceived notions of the fitness of things, it would both be stronger and possess a greater power of adapting itself still further to our wants. At present we require material and not machinery, inasmuch as our existing machinery is not half exhausted. If it were understood that of all the young men of the Colony who chose to present themselves at a given age for examination, —those who gave evidence of a certain proficiency would receive a degree conferring definite privileges, and that the best among them would be free to select from among the European Universities that which best suited their talents and circumstances, at which to receive a gratuitous education, —I think that the schoolmasters of this Colony would not long have to complain of want of material for instruction in the higher branches. If we are at present unable to fill the higher forms in our schools ; if from the early withdrawal of our pupils the standard of work is lower in those forms than masters of our qualifications and experience would be employed upon at home, it would be absurd to expect that a staff of Professors composed of the same class of men, would draw the crowded classes which are necessary for successful courses of lectures. It is time to provide for a University, to prepare the ground for it not only materially by

11

ESTABLISHMENT OP UNIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIPS.