QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.

The following questions are selected from previous Government Examination Papers :

(1) Give an account of the extent, physical character, and inhabitants of the Russian Empire in Europe and Asia, and say at what points it approaches nearest to any British possessions. (2) Give a full account of the Turkish Empire, under these heads :

(a) Boundaries and Coast Line.

(b) Mountains and Rivers.

(c) Races who inhabit it.

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(d) Independent or vassal" states paying tribute to the Sultan.

(3) Describe fully, as far as it is known, the basin of the Nile. (4) Draw a full map of the north coast of Africa.

(5) Name the principal bays and gulfs on the coast of Africa, and say what you know of each.

(6) Give notes of a lesson on the north-west provinces of Hindostan, the countries bordering on them, and the mountains and mountain-passes which lie between. Illustrate your lesson by a map.

(7) Draw a map of the countries lying between Persia and India, and describe the physical features and general condition of those countries.

(8) Say what you know about the government and people of Japan, China, Persia, and Afghanistan.

(9) Name and describe the rivers of Asia, rising to the north and north-east of the Himalayas.

(10) Draw a full map of the Black Sea, with the seas of Azof and Marmora.

(11) Write a letter as from a traveller describing what he had seen at Rome, Cyprus, Jerusalem, and Alexandria, and his journey between those places.

(12) Describe, as fully as you can, a coasting voyage round Hindostan.

(13) Draw a full map of China.

(14) Give notes of a lesson to a first class on Rivers, and illustrate each point by the great rivers of Asia and Africa. (15) Where and what are Abomey, Acre, Agra, Aleppo, Amboyna, Agulhas, Ararat, Assam ? Say what you know about each.

(16) Describe fully the physical features of Central Asia. (17) Explain this passage, and say in simple words what is the course of the voyage described :—

"As when to them who sail

Beyond the Cape of Hope, and now are past
Mozambique, off at sea north-east winds blow
Sabæan odours from the spicy shores

Of Araby the blest."

(18) Describe fully the physical features, climate, productions, and native tribes and animals of the British colonies in South Africa.

(19) Give notes of a lesson on China, under these heads :—

(a) Boundaries, and shape of the country.

(b) Sources and courses of the great rivers.

(c) Character of the people.

(d) Productions, trade, and seaports.

(20) Describe, as fully as you can, the great rivers of Africa. (21) Say what you know about Egypt, Abyssinia, Nubia, and Zanzibar.

(22) Describe the course of a vessel sailing from Calcutta to Japan, and say what you know about Japan and the Japanese.

(23) Six British vessels passed through the Suez Canal on the same day, each bound to a different port, four in Asia, and two in Australia. Name six ports to which they may be going, and the cargo they are likely to bring back.

(24) "Three slopes are drained by the rivers of Asia." Explain this statement, and name the rivers draining each slope, with the countries they flow through, and the oceans they run into.

(25) Give notes of a lesson on Japan.

(26) Name, in order, the countries of Asia, with their capitals, and give a brief account of each.

(27) Compare the mountain systems of Asia and Europe, showing in what points they agree, and in what they differ.

(28) Give notes of a lesson on the Nile.

(29) Name, in order, the islands off the coast of Africa, and say what you know about each.

(30) Describe the journey of a traveller from St. Petersburg to Calcutta and back, supposing him to go by way of Persia and Afghanistan, and return by Tibet and Tartary. Mention, on each route, the countries, mountains, and rivers he must pass.

(31) In what parts of Europe and Asia are gold, silver, tin, salt, and precious stones found?

(32) Name the productions of Arabia, Egypt, China, Cape Colony, and Ceylon.

(33) Describe fully, or as far as it is known, the valley of the Nile.

(34) Name in order, and describe minutely, the islands which lie round the coast of Africa.

(35) In what countries of Asia or Africa is each of these industries carried on, viz., the cultivation of sugar, coffee, tea, rice, opium, vines, ostrich-farming, and obtaining gold, diamonds, and pearls? Describe fully one of these occupations.

Note. In connection with the Geography of Africa, students should read, if possible, the travels of Livingstone, Stanley, and Cameron.

Geography should constantly be studied with the assistance of a good atlas. Maps of continents, countries, coastlines, islands, river-basins, etc., should be drawn, at first with the aid of the atlas, and then from memory. Moffatt's Half-Crown Atlas is a suitable one to use with the "Pupil Teachers' Course." Moffatt's School Maps are excellent aids to the study of geography.

ENGLISH HISTORY.

I. THE TUDOR PERIOD.

HENRY VII. (1485–1509).

FAMILY. Henry VII. was born at Pembroke in 1457. He was the first king of the House of Tudor. By his mother, Margaret Beaufort, he was great-great-grandson of John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster, fourth son of Edward III. His grandfather was Owen Tudor. (See Genealogical Tables.) He married Elizabeth of York, daughter of Edward IV., and sister of Edward V. He thus united the rival houses of York and Lancaster, and put an end to the Wars of the Roses. His children were: Arthur, Prince of Wales, who married Catherine of Aragon; Henry, who became king; Margaret, who married James IV. of Scotland; Mary.

ACCESSION. An Act of Settlement was passed confirming the title of Henry VII. to the crown, and recognising his heirs as the lawful successors to the throne. Henry's ancestors were descended from an illegitimate branch of the House of Lancaster, and his claims by birth were somewhat defective, but all classes were so tired of the civil war that his accession was hailed with general satisfaction. In the first year of his reign, however, he caused discontent among the Yorkists by depriving some of them of their lands. Edward, Earl of Warwick, son of the Duke of Clarence, who was regarded by many as the rightful heir to the throne, was arrested at Sheriff-Hutton, in Yorkshire, and committed to the Tower.

LORD LOVEL'S INSURRECTION, 1486. While Henry was making a royal progress through the north, a revolt occurred

in Yorkshire, headed by Lord Lovel, who was supported by Sir Humphrey Stafford, and his brother Thomas. The Duke of Bedford was sent against the rebels, who dispersed without fighting. Lovel escaped to Flanders, where he was received by the Duchess of Burgundy. The Staffords took refuge in a church near Abingdon (in Wilts), but were forcibly removed; Sir Humphrey was hanged at Tyburn, his brother was pardoned.

LAMBERT SIMNEL'S INSURRECTION, 1486. A priest of Oxford, named Richard Simons, appeared at Oxford with a boy fifteen years of age, whom he asserted to be the Earl of Warwick, representing that he had lately escaped from the Tower. The youth's real name was Lambert Simnel, and he was the son of a baker. The Earl of Kildare, the lord-deputy of Ireland, gave his support to this imposture, and Simnel was proclaimed king at Dublin under the title of Edward VI. This . insurrection was supported by the Irish people, and was soon afterwards strengthened by the arrival of the Earl of Lincoln and Lord Lovel with their adherents. Henry took measures to suppress this revolt. He imprisoned Elizabeth, queen-dowager, who was suspected of secretly favouring the movement, and caused the real Earl of Warwick to be conducted from the Tower to St. Paul's, in order that he might be exposed to the view of the citizens. The insurgents, under the Earl of Lincoln, landed at Furness (in Lancashire), and marched southward. Henry advanced to meet them from Kenilworth (Warwickshire), and a battle was fought at Stoke, near Newark (Nottinghamshire), 1487. The rebels were totally defeated; Lincoln was slain, Lovel was never more heard of, Simnel and Simons were taken. Simons was kept in custody till his death; Simnel was pardoned, made scullion in the king's kitchen, and afterwards promoted to the rank of falconer.

WAR WITH FRANCE, 1492. The Duke of Brittany died, leaving his dukedom to his daughter Anne. It was, however, claimed by the King of France. Henry supported the claims of