A copy of the list and the voting paper shall be sent to each person entitled to vote atleast fourteen days before the date fixed for any election. XXXIV. The central committee shall have power to suspend any annuitant from the benefits of the fund who shall anticipate the payment thereof, or charge or encumber the same in any manner, or who shall by improper conduct become unworthy to be continued on the fund. XXXV.—All annuities shall be paid quarterly, except in cases where the central committee deem it advisable to make other arrangements. XXXVI.—That if it shall appear that the circumstances of a candidate at the time of election were misrepresented, or if any annuitant is found to be able to earn a living, or to be possessed of an income independent of the annuity, then the central committee shall have power to suspend or reduce the annuity, acccording to circumstances, until the next general meeting, when the facts of the case shall be reported. XXXVII.—Special annuities of not more than £20 may be granted to the widows of members of the N.U.E.T. These annuitants shall be elected in the same manner, and shall be subject to the same restrictions, as ordinary annuitants. Orphan Allowances. XXXVIII.—Allowances not exceeding 83. per week in each case may be made towards the support of the orphans of teachers. Preference will be given, in the first instance, to the children of contributors to the fund. XXXIX.—All allowances to orphans will be made by the central committee, or, in certain cases (see by-law XL.), by local boards. The allowances are granted for one year certain, and may be renewed from year to year as circumstances permit. XL.-Any local board subscribing to the permanent fund donations or other contributions, not being annual subscriptions, to the amount of £100, shall have the right of electing one orphan on the fund. XLI. The regulations for conducting the elections of annuitants, contained in these by-laws, shall apply equally to the election of orphans. Trustees. XLII.—All moneys placed in the public funds shall be vested in the names of the Trustees or any three of them, who shall sign a declaration of the nature of their trust, and an engagement to relinquish it upon a resolution to that effect being passed by a general or special meeting of the subscribers to the fund. The moneys soinvested shall be under the control and at the disposal of the central committee,. whose order in writing shall be obligatory upon, and authority to, the Trustees as to any purchase, sale, or other disposal of the same. There shall never be more than five nor less than three Trustees. XLIII. No person or persons becoming bankrupt or insolvent shall continue aTrustee or Trustees of the fund. XLIV. When any vacancy in the office of Trustee shall occur, it shall be filled up at the next general meeting of the subscribers, and the existing Trustees shall immediately thereupon transfer the funds standing in their name into the names of themselves and the newly elected Trustees. XLV.-The Trustees shall from time to time receive the dividends due upon the funded property, and pay the same over to the Treasurer, and shall not, after such payments, as Trustee, be accountable or responsible for the application or misapplication thereof. Treasurer. XLVI.—A Treasurer shall be elected annually at the annual general meeting. If the office shall become vacent during the year, the central committee shall elect a Treasurer pro tem., who shall act until the next general meeting. XLVII.-The Treasurer shall not pay any moneys on account of the fund, except on receiving a written order signed by at least two members of the central committee and countersigned by the Secretary. XLVIII.—The Treasurer shall keep the account of the fund with such banker as the central committee shall direct, but no cheque shall be paid by the banker unless signed by the Treasurer, the Chairman of the central committee for the time being, and the Secretary. XLIX. The Banker and Secretary in addition to the Treasurer may receive subscriptions and donations to the fund, and their receipt given on an authorisedi printed form, shall be a sufficient acknowledgement of the same. Alteration of by-laws. L.-No alteration in, or addition to, these by-laws, except as provided for in bydaw IX., may be made, except at a general meeting, of which at least twenty-eight days' notice has been given. The At the weekly meeting on November 29th the following important matter was referred to: Memorial to the Education Department, on the amendment of the Code, and a letter to Sir F. R. Sandford on the same subject. The correspondence on the subject of the regulations was presented in a classified form, and all letters containing suggestions not covered by the previous action of the Executive were read. Secretary stated that he had written to Sir F. R. Sandford, asking for a reply to the inquiry respecting the payment of fees for the children obtaining honour certificates, and inquiring what action had been taken by the Department in reference to the representations made in July last on the subject of "Regulations." In reply, he had been accorded an interview, and he was authorised to make the following statement as the substance of Sir F. R. Sandford's reply: In reference to the Regulations and the representations respecting them, Sir Francis said that the Lord President and the Vice-President left London soon after those representations were made, consequently they have never yet been formally or fully considered by the Department, but that they would be considered when "My Lords" came back to town. That is the explanation of no reply having been sent to the document submitted by the deputation. With respect to the specific question which was submitted (raised by Mr. Greenwood's motion), as to the payment of fees to those children who receive honour certificates, Sir F. R. Sandford authorised him to say that his interpretation of the Regulation was that the fees should be paid unconditionally in the first year, but he was not clear as to the wishes of the Lord President and Lord Sandon on this point. He should present his opinion as an official interpretation of the Regulations, but he would not reply in writing until the matter had been brought before the Department. Mr. Heller said that, in point of fact, their interpretation of the Regulations was shared by the Secretary of the Education Department, and is, that when the honour certificates are granted, the child becomes unconditionally entitled to the fees for the first year. The Secretary further stated that, during the interview, he had pressed on Sir F. R. Sandford the importance of an intimation being made to the local authorities that they had power to pay for the returns required by the Regulations, as he believed many of the local authorities were under the impression that they had no such power. At the meeting on November 30th, it was decided that the Treasurer to the Union should be paid £25 a year. At the meeting on December 8th, Mr. Heller said he wanted more help in his work, which the Committee accordingly instructed him to obtain. Mr. Devonshire brought up a special report on "The Teachers' Orphanage and School." The following resolutions have been adopted by the Benevolent Fund Committee for advancing the interests of the scheme. The report was a long one, giving the history and an outline of the scheme. It contained a series of eighteen general resolutions, on which it is proposed that the details of an Orphanage scheme should be based. They deal with the management, subscription, mode of election, &c.; and indicate that ultimately a building for at least 300 inmates should be provided, provision being made in the first instance for fifty boys and fifty girls. The Committee also reported that they had adopted the following resolutions respecting the Benevolent Fund (1) That a circular be addressed to local associations announcing the establishment of the Benevolent Fund, and requesting the formation of local boards. (2) That copies of the by-laws and receipt-books be forwarded with the circular, to which a form of application for recognition as a local board be appended. (3) That the Secretary be authorised to procure the necessary books and forms. (4) That a meeting of the influential friends of education be held, if possible, in February next, at the Mansion House, under the presidency of the Lord Mayor, in furtherance of the Benevolent Fund; and (5) That a public meeting be held during the evening of the same day in furtherance of the same object." As these resolutions involved expense, and no means are yet available from the fund itself, the Executive were asked to sanction the necessary outlay on the understanding that it be repaid as soon as possible. After the report had been received, the Executive authorised the Secretary to incur the necessary expenditure for carrying out the resolutions respecting the Benevolent Fund. The National Schoolmaster. SUMMARY. ARLIAMENT was opened by Commission on Thursday, Jan 17. Mr. E. Jones has forwarded to us for review a little work called "The Pronouncing Reader," but as we have completed our reviews for the month, we notice the work here. Mr. Jones is doubtless aware of our own views on the subject; feeling, as we do, it is distressing for us to see an amount of energy and perseverance lavished on it, worthy of a cause in which the chances of success were more hopeful. This little book contains a variety of simple stories, that read pleasantly, if curiously, in the new spelling. We give the last paragraph in the book, which contains as assertion that will probably surprise our readers. By the fonetic alfabet a child may be taut the art ov reeding wel, bôt ́h in fonetic and in ordinary books, in t'hree munt'hs-ây, ofen in twenty ourz ov t'horo instrucshon-a task which iz rairly acomplisht in three yeerz ov toil by the ôld alfabet. Whot fâther or teecher wil not gladly hail, and ernestly wurk for this grait boon to edûcaishon, this powerful masheen for the difûzhon ov nolej. On educational matters generally, we take a middle course between the School Board Chronicle and the School Guardian. We cannot help, however, agreeing with the former journal in its censure of the opinion. that "the man who sends his children to the board school is just as much in receipt of out-door relief as though he went every Saturday to the relieving officer for a certain number of quartern loaves." The same argument might be applied to those who share in the advantages offered by the magnificent free libraries of Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. Persons might be branded with the same stigma who visit the National Gallery and the British Museum, on the free days. In our view, it is a subject for congratulation that there should be a class of No. 87.-February, 1878. schools, in which the education given is so superior, that tradesmen, and (we hope as time goes on), even professional men will take advantage of it. We have no wish to take a harsh view of the state of middle-class schools; but they are subject to too heavy disabilities. They are selfsupporting, and they lack the benefit of an efficient system of inspection. We regret to find the School Guardian, the representative of the views and work of the National Society, quoting with approval from another organ of what is called the voluntary system" the strange sentiment that "the man who sends his children to a board school is just as much in receipt of out-door relief as though he went every Saturday to the relieving officer for a certain number of quartern loaves." There is no more pauperism in getting a child educated in a board school than there is in walking by night along the streets lighted with gas at the public expense. One of the greatest advantages of the new system of national education is that it saves parents from the necessity of placing themselves and their children under the unfortunate influence of the charity school system. The education of the board school is not a privilege: it is the right of every child, whatever may be the class, the means, or the social degree of the parent. The Education Department has issued a circular on the child's schoolbook, which will be found in another part of our paper. They state it would not be a reasonable ground for refusing admission to a child, if he presented himself without a school-book. They further think it may reasonably be expected that the managers will pay the registrar's fee, if the parents are not able to do so. If, however, the birth of the child has never been registered (and registration only became compulsory in 1875), they propose to meet the difficulty by giving the local authority power to enter the age of the child, on the production of such evidence as they may consider sufficient, and that this entry when once made must not be altered. This supplementary regulation will come into force after it has lain on the tables of the Houses of Parliament for a calendar month. REVIEWS. Paradise Lost. Book II. With Introduction and Notes. W. Collins, Sons, & Co. THE text is here clearly printed. There is a brief introduction, and 17 pages of short sensible notes. The notes are excellent, comparing as they do the expressions of Milton with those of Shakspere, Spenser, Horace, Virgil, and Dante. National Arithmetical Test Cards. By H. Allen. W. & R. Chambers, London and Edinburgh. THESE cards are issued in six packets to suit the different standards, and they are valuable in this respect, that they are adapted to the latest modifications of the standards. Each packet contains thirty-six cards, and it is a sensible feature that two cards of answers are supplied. There are five or six questions on every card. The questions are in every way suitable, and are excellently varied in form. We do not see how a class that had been thoroughly worked with these cards] could fail in the inspector's examination. They have our hearty approval. Specific Subjects. New Educational Code. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. UNDER this heading we have received four very useful books, which we proceed separately to notice. Euclid, Books, I and II. (by W. H. H. Hudson, M.A.), contains the text from Simson, very clearly printed, and arranged in distinct paragraphs after the manner of Potts's Euclid. The editor has appended to the propositions some very sensible and useful hints. Algebra (by the same editor) contains an expatiation of the subject, with numerous examples to the end of Quadratic Equations. A very valuable feature in this little work is that the author not only gives examples for working but lists of questions. We think he would have done wisely to have supplied the answers to the examples on a separate sheet for the teacher's use. Mr. Hudson is very clear in his explanations, and the work is the best primer on Algebra we have yet seen. Physical Geography, by T. G. Bonney, M.A., is a capital work for young scholars. Mr. Bonney says what he has to say in clear simple language. His description of the Gulf Stream, though not taking up quite a page, is very graphic and clear. Teachers will find this book of great value to them in working up for the specific subjects in Physical Geography. Elementary Mechanics, by W. Garnett, M.A., is a good instance of the best way to treat simply a difficult subject. Mr. Garnett does not rest content with the usual magazine surface enlightenment. He states in his preface he " has not shrunk from introducing methods of general reasoning, which will require considerable thought to be fully understood." The definitions relating to the subject are printed in italics, while illustrations of the statements in the text are given in small type. The Settlement of the Constitution (1689—1784). By James Rowley, M. A. London: Longmans, Green, & Co. MR. ROWLEY divides his subject into five books, as follows: Book I., The Revolution Settlement (1689-1701); Book II., The War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713); Book III., England under the rule of the Great Families (1714-1756); Book IV., The Seven Years' War (1756-1763); Book V. The Struggle between the King and the Whig Houses (1762-1784). We think that such a division is itself very helpful to the reader, as giving him a bird's-eye view of the great features of the history. We notice in this book the same leading features which have characterised the other works of the series. The language is simple and easy; difficult matters are explained in the simplest manner; and the stock of knowledge which the reader possesses is not estimated at a high rate. The introduction to this little book is so very good that we give it below for the information of our readers : The chief aim of this little book is to show the following things: 1. How the Revolution of 1688 made the House of Commons the strongest thing in the State. 2. How England engaged in a long and costly war with France, the greatest nation in Europe at that time, because the French king thought fit to meddle in her affairs, and how she won much fame and new lands thereby. 3. How a new line of kings was set on the throne; and how, during the reigns of the first two of these kings, the great families among the English nobility took to themselves the foremost place in ruling the country. 4. How the rule of the great families broke down at a time when England was called upon to put forth all her strength; and how the task of guiding the country through its troubles was given to a man of surpassing genius, who raised it to a height of greatness such as it had never before reached. 5. How a king came to the throne who strove with all his might to beat down the strength of the great families and win for himself some of the power which his forefathers had held, and how, after a hard fight, he gained his object. We recommend this book to our readers for their own private reading. It sheds quite a new light on our history, and is well worth the small sum which it costs. Anyone who is working up for an examination in English history cannot do better than study it attentively in these sections. The book would also make a capital reading book for almost any class in a school. |