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350 THE 1 LEAiyE B. [go. 420, April 1Q, ...
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cell, nnd loaping from the wall of tho f...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Education And Literary Teaching. It Is A...
should ^ com © ' to- us * from such men as Professor Blackie and Sir John ; Burgoyne . The latter officer is distinguished * amongst our military men for a most ; thorough- mastery of all the varied branches of his profession , and is possibly of all out generals the one who knows best the varied works , ancient or modem , in our own and foreign languages , on the art of war " . Yet he is eminent for his opinionsagainst any high standard of examinations- for Staff appointments . Has the use of his learning been to show its comparative useless ness ?'
" We wish ta give especial prominence to Professor Blackie ' s suggestion , that " candidates for the public service should be tested not simply in what they know , but in what they can do . " We urged this in our recent article on the Civil Service Commissioners' report . The present examinations for the home- 1 and Indian civil ' service are ; in the main , as absurd ? and unsuitable as if in testing physical activity you awepted the certificate of the director of a gymnasium in , lieu of an actual trial of the boy s own . ' limbs ; or asked him to describe the course of exerciser instead * of finding out by experiment whether he bad profited- by the training . We urged that this principle of an examination in doing" instead of ' knowing' should be applied to mental tests ; but Professor Blackie wishes to extend the principle , and to apply it to physical education ; He asks-: " —
"Why snonld not a vigorous youth , who is a first-rate fencer or quoit-thro-irer ; or who has come in first in the boat-race one the Cam or the Isis , not receive a mark of 300 in his fe-vour as well as a man who can spell his way through , a page of Cicero or Schiller ? Why should a good elocutionist be held in no account before an examination board ? Why should music be ignored ? Why the elegant and useful accomplishment of the draughtsman ?" This is a very natural question . We all know that the value of our public schools and universities is not the mere book knowledge crammed into the head of the boy , but the manliness and
selfreliance indirectly instilled by association with boys of his own age in the school-room , the cricket-field , and on the river The magnetic influence of a hundred boys overflowing with animal spirits , the contagion of a competition in everything , does more to develop the power of the future man than any reading , lecturing , or cramming . In all the recent competitive examinations the most unsuccessful candidates have been the pupils of private tutors ; and this although the examinations have been conducted mainly to favour mere bookish superiority , showing that the free and manly life of large schools communicates indirectly an ability which mere crammini ? cannot confer . Professor Blackie wishes to
stamp direct approval on this unorganized part of English education . As applied to ordinary civil service examinations we see objections to the proposal . In commenting on the Civil Service Commissioners' report , we objected to any test not bearing on the work to be done in the office . The junior clerks in Somerset House , or Downing-street , or Whitehall , may , in their hours ( ten to four ) of p layful leisure , indulge in leap-frog over desks , caricatures of their grim seniors , or even subdued' whistling , for ' want of thought ; ' but this is extra work , and wo cannot approve of any marks given to candidates on account of music , sketching , or physical activity .
But there is just now a speoial opportunity for the reform the Professor presses on our attention . Tho oivil and military services of India require yearly a supply of ouv best young men . Tho oivil service is open to competition , and the great difficulty with the new India bill is the military patronage . If left to tlio Crown , even in part , it offers tv new- means of corrupting the Commons ; and by giving it to Councillors , it offers to private persons an instrument of irresponsible nepotism . Why not throw it open , together Avitli tho civil service , to an honost competition free to ovory
young man of good character—a competition not merely as to bookish knowlodgo , but as to all tho flHfijl & etLjIl ^^ Out of twenty young men anxious to servo in India , wo require ana should select—not tho mere link guist , not the man best in Greek , not tho man best in mathematics , not tho stroke oar of tho oraok university boat , not tlio best horseman , nor tho winner of a swimming ; matoh—but the young man w ho * take him for all in all , is the most fitting- for the ftork to be done . A . man possessing a fuir knowledge of th » usual branches of learning , and Wfit ? ie to trutmui
»» naey avim , row , mivko rough , ( v Bjaefjchesj andi compose en K ° od loiter , i » tha very nutxxi . wtfnted in luduw . Ho would have bodily
health to stand the climate and endure the fati g ues which fall to the lot of nearly all Indian officials , civil or military . He must have had ample intelligence to have acquired a general knowledge in the various branches of literary education—intelligence that would guarantee a steady progress in mor « specific studies . By a fusion into one competition of all the candidates for Indian service , the examiners could indicate by the . marks awarded the men who ought to be selected for each service . The more successful in the physical part of the competition would , of course , become soldiers j the boys inferior in this respect , though obliged to reach a certain standard of physical vigour , would serve us in the less arduous departments of civil administration .
We fear we must not be too sanguine of any reform so radical and so simple as that suggested . The vested interests of pedants and of bookworms are too strong in this country . Common sense has not the confidence of the House of Commons ; the press does not lead , it follows , public opinion . That noble old Greek love and reverence for the human body which made marble live in shapes of undying beauty , and gave to bodily seeraliness and vigour the sanctity of religion , has too much of Paganism for the men who conduct the majority of our schools . They ignore-this , the best part of ' . the fair humanities of old religion , ' while they
tolerate the epigrams of Martial and the pruriency of Ovid . Only iu the writings of Kingsley and a few of his thinking do we find the true love of physical nobility ; and the natural heroism of English boys has kept alive in the playground and on the river what their schoolmasters have more than once discouraged , as we see in the suppression of the school matches at Lord ' s . The new mania for literary competitions as tests for many offices and functions is not yet long enough in operation to have had any marked effect on our English youth , but while we appreciate it as a check to mere family patronage , we fear it may tend to multiply
a very undesirable class—' young men of good education' with no special bias for any calling , and no special acquirements for any profession . There arc , doubtless , few of our readers who do not know in their circle of frieuds some young man who is a subject of perpetual anxiety to his friends , because he lias received a good general education and is fit for any employment . There is no lack of such rouiig men in this country ; the columns of the Times testify daily to their destitution and their
readiness to accept any employment not menial , and for the smallest remuneration . If instead of learning Latin , Greek , mathematics , and history , these young men had been trained to a mastery of some craft , they might become the real creators of the superiority of England—they might become builders , road-makers , farmers , architects , engineers . But we have them filling London garrets— ' with blinded eyesight poring over miserable books , ' instead of taking stout hearts and strong hands to countries where rich fruits reward toil .
And with this surplusage ol clerks , linguists , scholars , men who can correspond iu three languages and write Latin verses to admiration , we nave our statesmen , in their high wisdom , devising rewards for the multiplication , of tho class . It is right to givo civil service posts only to men literary enough to do the work , but why give tho posts as rewards for a literary cduoufcion far boyoud the workP It is like offcrimy premiums for tUo influx of weavers into Spitulfiolds , or encouraginjr an increase of needlewomen in London .
350 The 1 Leaiye B. [Go. 420, April 1q, ...
350 THE LEAiyE B . [ go . 420 , April 1 Q , I 85 g .
Cell, Nnd Loaping From The Wall Of Tho F...
cell , nnd loaping from the wall of tho fort . The number who thus escaped was fortyflvo , of whom the groator part have boon retaken . The Capo Voluntoora woro mainly instrumental In their capture—Tho last nows from the TraiiB-Vaal Republic i » of a distressing nature . Tho republicans are Hplit into IiohIIIq faotlonn . Solioomann had takon poaaaasion of Itustonburgli , and was thoro with a largo armou forco , with which ho Intoncloil to invade tho tpwn of Mool Rivor , should Protorlus not have cmbmittcd on tlio 15 th February , tlio uny appointed for tho settlement of existing differences . "
London Mechanics' Institution . —Dr . LyonPl fair has made a report on the state of the London-W chanics' Institution , the parent of the six hundred simil institutions now existing in England . It was founded in 1823 , and the number of members was at one time many as 1254 ; bat there are now only 436 . The instf tution is encumbered with a debt of 4000 £ , to defr which the Government will be asked to give half th amount , while the rest will be collected by subscription Even when thus cleared of debt , however , the institution would not be self-supportiug ; but Dr . Playfair thinks that further aid may be obtained from the State or from the wealthy . He condemns the system on which th institution is conducted , and which appears to be dii * jointed and inefficient .
The Hon . Mr . Mostyn , KT . P . —In consequence of his impaired health , the Hon . Mr . Mostyn has been at length compelled to yield to the recommendation of his pW . sicians and relinquish for the present his Parliamentary duties , in order to try the air of the south of Italy . JHfc Mostyn has already taken his departure from Englandl . ' . The Late Fibk in Bishopsgate . —Mr . W . Payne , the coroner , resumed on Monday , for the third time , the adjourned inquiry respecting the circumstances connected with the late fire in Devonshire-street , Bishopsgate , and the death of Benjamin Amsell . The jury re .-turned the following verdict : — " That the deceased lose his life at the fire that occurred at the house , No . \ T , Devonshire-street , and , though there is no proof as to the origin of the fire , yet the circumstances connected with it we think are of a'Very suspicious nature . "
\ DiscovEnr of Relics is Orkney . —Several silver pins , brooches , bracelets , necklaces , and coins have been discovered in a rabbit-hole at Sandwick , Orkney . They are supposed to be contemporaneous with the reigns of the earliest kings in Scottish or Scandinavian : history . Fires . —The premises of Mr . Soline , a French shirt - maker at 28 , Aldgate , were burnt down on Monday night ; and the premises on both sides and at the rear were greatly damaged by fire and water . The engines were on the spot in a few minutes from the time the alarm was given ; but in a very short time the roof fell in , carrying with it the lower floors . —On the sa-ma night , a fire broke out in Cannon-street , West . St , Paul's ; . but it was soon got under , though not without a good
deal of damage to the stock . —A serious fire burst out on Tuesday evening on the premises No . 6 , Unionstreet , Oxford-street . The inmates escaped with difficulty , and a large amount of property was consumed . — Two more fires occurred on tlie same night—one in the New North-road , Islington , and the other at Bermondsey . The loss of property at the latter locality was immense . —The ancient mansion of the Earl of Moray , called Donibristle House , situated on the shore of th * Firth of Forth , opposite Edinburgh , was burnt down , from some unexplained cause , on Tuesday morning . On the alarm being given , a special steamer conveyed a fire-engine across the ferry ; but it arrived too late . A large part of the gallery of family and historical portraits was saved ; but the greater portion or tlio contents of the house was destroyed . ,
_ _ A Mn . i . ioXAiuE . —Mr . Quintin Hick , a rather noted character , who died a week or two ngo at a very advanced age , has left more than a million of money . Tub Annual Report <>*• the Post-okwck , issued on Tuesday , ia divided into sections . Tho number of post-onices in the United Kingdom has been increased , by 236 , making the total 11 , 101 . Arrangements tj effect further accelerations , both in tho provincial and suburban posts , are in steady progress . lie numuoio .. lottors delivered in the United Kingdom last yem was . fiO-i , 000 , 000 , showing an increase of « bo « t c > i per cc , 121 to h
In England / the annual proportion - e ^ , « in Scotland 1 G , and in I reland only 7 . lll ° " ™ Bince the introduction of the penny system has boon six fold . Tho number of newspapers delivered in l » o j < about 71 , 000 , 000 , showing no alteration . » 1 C ' about 75 per cent , bore the impressed or newspaper Htamp . The number of money-order olhces w now 2233 , being an increase of 188 . ' 1 ' ^ T / ftotal orders issued during the your was G ,: JHJ , / O- Io ' , , of 12 , 180 , 272 / ., on which the commission a . no . ned to 100 , 852 / . leaving a profit of 24 , 175 * . The n ^ W mtn of noMtjiiro has now boon e xtended to overy " | * ¦
and meammm adopted by tlio Peninsular «» ' * nu . « Company have enabled a vrookly com munication established with India . Tho gross revenue of tl ' office for 1857 was 8 , 085 , 71 »/ ., present Ing jj «»« of 107 , 709 / ., or nearly six per cent ., while tho ox turo , according to corrected computations , incroiwo ji y ^ wrodJUwULjMHwss ^^^ appertaining to tlio year wns l , M * , *>>« -i Wl ., in exec ** of 1850 , allowing im » improvement oi i i ^ cent . Tho number of persona employed was m » ,, whom 8200 belong to tho London district . -- /«»' ' - ¦ ]( 1 East I « i > ia Houau . —A Court of D \ reoU " WlHIft " At tho En » t IndiA . House on Tuoaday , whim Mi . > rf . Edward Fr « ro was appointed a Provisional w * - "" Council « t Bombay . , -m-,, iionry T iik Soour . Evn .. — It is stated that mi . Mayhew has proposed to Lord Derby ft plan ij > r ^ gating tho condition of abandoned woman , w ¦» ofl to legislation , < vnd that tho Fromior think * . ftivouraPiy tho idea .
This Oapib op Good Horn . —By the last advices from the Cape ( dated February 20 th ) , wo loarn that Sir George Grey continued on hid tour of inspection through the Eastern Province In replying to an addroBS from tho inhabitants of Graham ' s Town , the Governor stated his intention to visit England . It ia said that Sir George ia organizing a regiment of Kaffirs for service iu India , nncl that thoro arc many voluntoers . " A number of Kafflr prisoners , confined in the Amsterdam Battory , Ii . BayB . a-Capo-Town . pa ' i ) er , ~ i-Biiccoodqdri » -ofl ' oQtr > ing their escape by cutting through tho door of their
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 10, 1858, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10041858/page/14/
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