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Head Master, no doubt, enforced good discipline, he did not much mind this noise. He must have considered it a matter of course. Meanwhile, the other Head Master was teaching in the adjoining dining-room. He instructed only a few of the older pupils, chiefly in Latin and French, and used to cram them for an examination. I remember that with one of them he read Caesar, De bello Gallico, and Souvestre, Le philosophe sous les toits.

The whole system of these examinations is, to a German, a curiosity in scholastic in- stitutions. Neither Private nor Public Schools have any examinations which, as with us, en- title those who have passed them to certain rights. These examinations are held by the Universities or by their deputies, chiefly by Oxford and Cambridge, also by the London University and by the College of Preceptors. These establishments only give diplomas which admit to the learned branches, viz: theology, medicine, law, and military service, or they give testimonials which may be of good service to those who devote themselves to commerce, manufactures, and agriculture. The attendance at a university is not obligatory in England, and every profession is, theoretically speaking, open to anyone who has not frequented a university. For certain branches one must only have passed a certain series of examinations, after a fixed number of years. There exist many kinds and degrees of exa- minations at the different universities. It would lead me too far to describe them here or to speak, in general, of English universities. I will later on mention the subjects, general and special, of some examinations, of which B. A. and M. A. Examinations are more or less known with us. I will also mention that of the 42 boys who in 1878 attended our School, 17 boys afterwards passed the following examinations: 8, Durham Local; 1, Senior Durham Local; 1, Cambridge Senior Local; 1, Cambridge Local; 1, Durham Entrance Medical, (Scholarship); 1, Bachelor of Medicine at Durham; 1, Pharmaceutical Examination; 1, Preli- minary Law Examination; 1, College of Preceptors.

The pupils of Middle-class Schools are, in general, examined by the London University, which is exclusively an examining, not a teaching establishment, and by the College of Pre- ceptors— an Association of Teachers which has for its object the promotion of sound learning and the advancement of the interests of Education, more especially among the middle classes. Mr. Lange! expresses himself in very favourable terms of this institution: „Das College of Preceptors ist ein Factor in der Erziehung der Schüler, besonders aus den englischen Mittelklassen, geworden, mit dem bei allen Erziehungsfragen zu rechnen ist. Es hat eine fruchtbare Thätigkeit hinter sich, die weit über das Land ihren nützlichen Einfluss geltend macht, und sollte einst die Zeit auch für England hereinbrechen, wo die Schulen ihr natürliches Recht beanspruchen und ausüben, selbst ihre Zöglinge zu prüfen, so kann das College doch mit Genugthuung auf seine frühere Wirksamkeit zurückblicken, durch die es zu einer Zeit, wo das englische Schulwesen im argen lag, einem Mangel abgeholfen und erfolgreich mitgeholfen hat, den neuen freieren Schulgeist in die Erziehung der Jugend ein- zuführen.“ The examinations of these two establishments only take place by writing and are, curiously enough, not oral with the exception of modern languages. The subjects of examination at the Universities are published nearly two years in advance. The following are, for instance, the subjects, at the University of London, for the Matriculation Eramination, a necessary preliminary to graduating in any faculty, whether it be Arts, Science, Medi- cine, Law, or Music, and open for all persons, both men and women, of any age not under 16:

1. Latin.

2. One of the following Languages,— Greek, French, German, Sanskrit, Arabic;

3. The English Language: and English Historg, with the Geograph,,; relating thereto;

4. Mathematics,

5. Mechanics,(Staties, Dynamics, and Hydrostatics.„What is required is a firm and intelligent grasp of first principles“.)

6. One of the followwing Branches of Science- Chemistry; Heat and Light; Magnetism and Electricity; Botany.

¹ See Im Ausland, April 1889. Page 30