Mr. Temple and Mr. Bowstead will be at liberty in the latter part of June. The Lord President, in placing at your disposal the services of two gentlemen whose time is of the highest value, and in constant demand, for official purposes, relies upon your assurance that the Examination will be confined within one week. His Lordship also assumes that the entire execution of administrative details will be undertaken by the promoters. The Inspectors will be ready to afford general advice, and to assist in setting, and in estimating, the Examination Papers; but all correspondence with candidates, engagement of rooms, arrangements for attendance, and the like, must be conducted by, and on the responsibility of, other persons. Every expense also, of every kind whatever, beyond the presence of the Inspectors, must be defrayed without charge to the public. The Lord President will not be able to authorize H. M. Inspectors to interrupt the course of their ordinary official duties by frequent journeys for purposes of conference, or heavy correspondence. Should such a result ensue, his Lordship will be under the necessity of withdrawing his consent from the plan. The Lord President hopes that it will not be necessary to continue the assistance of H. M. Inspectors permanently, but that such arrangements may be settled, in concert with them, as will admit their attendance to be hereafter dispensed with. Examinations of this kind were not contemplated in creating the Inspector's office, and, although his Lordship admits the bearing of them to be considerable upon the education of the lower, as well as upon that of the middle classes, nevertheless, his Lordship would prefer to see this indirect benefit accomplished without the extension of official agency. Mr. Temple and Mr. Bowstead may always be addressed at this office. As Mr. Temple resides in London, you will probably find it convenient to address the correspondence (within the narrowest limits possible) to him, as often as it does not concern Mr. Bowstead only. I have the honour to be, Sir, 4. First Notice to Competitors, containing List of Prizes offered and General Regulations. PRIZES. Prizes are offered to the amount of One Hundred and Twenty Guineas. Candidates of sufficient merit will be arranged in two classes in each department. Junior and senior Candidates will appear in the same classes, each being placed with reference to the standard fixed for their respective ages. Prizes of 51. in value (or thereabouts) will be given to all Candidates placed in the first class, of whom the number will be small, probably not exceeding three on an average in each department, or twelve in all. Prizes of a smaller amount will be given to Candidates placed in the second class, which may include a larger number, perhaps from twenty to forty in all, according to the number and attainments of the Candidates. Candidates in more than one department will be allowed to receive a Prize in each according to their merit. A Prize of the value of Ten Pounds, in addition to the First Class Prizes of Five Pounds each, will be given to the Candidate in the senior division who shall pass the best general examination; and a Prize of the same amount, also in addition to First Class Prizes, will be also given to the Candidate in the junior division who shall pass the best general examination. The Examiners will be at liberty to withhold Prizes if, in their judgment, no one is deserving of them. It is possible that Prizes for excellence in particular subjects may hereafter be announced. Qualification of Candidates.*-Each Candidate will produce— 1. A declaration from his Parent or Guardian that he has been "Educated in the West of England with a view to employment in Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, or Commerce." (See Proposal 1, page 109.) *After much deliberation on the possibility of excluding particular schools from the competition the attempt was abandoned, and the proposed declaration was adopted as the most effectual and just method of defining the class for whom the prizes are intended: Pupil Teachers aided by Government are understood to be excluded; they have an examination and a career of their own. 2. The exact date of his birth, duly certified. 3. A statement of the places at which, and the persons by whom, he has been educated, and of the time passed under the charge of each instructor. Preliminary Examination. All Candidates will be examined in writing from dictation, in the four First Rules of Arithmetic, and (if time permits) in reading aloud, before they are admitted to compete for any of the Prizes. Competitive Examination.- The examinations for Prizes will be conducted by means of papers of questions to be answered in writing. Good writing and general neatness will be taken into account in the answers to every paper. Each Candidate will be required to pass an Elementary Examination in Religious Knowledge, or to produce a letter from his Parent or Guardian declining such Examination on his behalf, and enclosing a Certificate, duly filled up, of which the form will be supplied by the Secretary. All Candidates for a Prize in Department D must have received a Certificate of competency from the Examiners in Department B, or in Department C, before their answers in Department D can be looked over. Arrangement of subjects for Examination. The following outline may be given as indicating the probable course of the Examination, so far as it is in the power of the Committee to announce it before the Examiners shall have been appointed. The Candidates will be arranged in two divisions, the age of those in the junior not to exceed 15 years, of those in the senior not to exceed 18. There will not be two sets of papers, but every paper will contain a variety of questions of different degrees of difficulty, so as to give considerable latitude for selection. Boys in the junior division will be entitled to Prizes by gaining a smaller number of marks for their answers than will be required from Candidates in the senior division in order to gain a similar Prize. In order to encourage sound early training, the Examiners will be requested to attach especial importance to the elementary examination in each department; and with regard to the higher or special examinations, to "value more highly accuracy in a few subjects than a superficial acquaintance with several." (Proposal 6.) Candidates in the junior division are therefore advised to prepare themselves especially for the elementary papers, though they are not precluded from attempting to answer the higher or special papers. Thoroughly good answers to the elementary papers will suffice to ensure them a very high position in the Class list. Candidates in the senior division are advised to concentrate their efforts on a limited number of subjects, taking especial care not to be disqualified by failure in the elementary examination, which, in each department, must be passed before attempting the higher examination in that department. FIRST DAY.-PRELIMINARY EXAMINATION. Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, as above explained. DEPARTMENT A, RELIGIOUS Knowledge. I. Elementary Examination. Outlines of Old Testament History as contained in the Pentateuch, together with the principal Types and Prophecies of the Messiah. A knowledge of the Book of Genesis will suffice. The life and teaching of our Saviour as contained in the Gospels. A knowledge of any one of the Gospels will suffice. The Geography of the Holy Land. A (general) acquaintance with the contents of the Book of Common Prayer. The Examiners will be requested to confine their questions to such portions of the Prayer Book as may be presumed to be familiar to lay members of the Church of England (see Notice III.), and generally to direct attention by their questions to the meaning of words in common use in the Holy Scriptures and in religious books. II. Higher Examination.—Questions to be answered on one or two, but not more than two, of the following periods: The History of the Israelites from their entrance into Canaan to their return from the Captivity. The History of the New Testament from our Lord's Ascension to the end. History of the Christian Church from the death of St. John to A.D. 325. The Reformation in England, with the events connected with it before and after. SECOND DAY.-Department B, Language and HISTORY. I. Elementary Examination.— English Grammar, parsing, analysis of sentences, meaning and derivation of words. Outline of History and Geography of the British Empire. Some questions will be proposed in the Elementary Examination, in answering which a knowledge of French and Latin will be of use; but a creditable examination may be passed without the knowledge of those languages. II. Higher Examination. After passing the Elementary Examination in Language and History, Candidates may select one or two, but not more than two, of the following subjects :— 1. English Literature. 2. Latin (with Ancient History). 3. French, or other modern language. In English, an opportunity for original composition on some familiar subject will be given. In Latin, the object will be to test the knowledge of the Candidates with reference to broad general rules, rather than to exceptions; and less with a view to future scholarship than to present mental training and the illustration of English. In French, as in Latin, attention will be given to general principles of Grammar; but the power of using French for practical purposes will be also tested by composition in that language. If Candidates desire to be examined in German or Italian, they are requested to give notice as early as possible. THIRD DAY.- Department C, MATHEMATICS. I. Elementary Examination. Arithmetic--including Vulgar and Decimal Fractions. II. Higher Examination.— After passing the Elementary Examination in Arithmetic and Mathematics, Candidates will have an opportunity of showing either their further proficiency in Mathematics as a Science, or their acquaintance |