communicate to him a copy of all correspondence with the teacher, which is of any importance.

To insure the co-operation of Presbyteries and remove their objections to the intrusion of an alien authority between them and the schools of which they had legal superintendence, they were asked to report annually on each school in detail; this Report being accepted by the Trustees as an element in form ing their judgment.

To insure the literary elevation and the “activity" or efficiency of the schoolmaster and the school, the Trustees attached a certain money value to instruction in the higher branches (by which were meant Geography, English Grammar, Latin, Greek, French, and Mathematics), and they further directed their Visitor to report on the manner in which these and all other subjects were taught, assigning to each teacher such a number (bearing a pecuniary value) under the head of "Merit in Teaching" as he seemed to the Visitor to deserve, under certain restrictions (see p. 231).

These various principles of administration I shall now speak of in greater detail.

CHAPTER III.

PRINCIPLES OF DICK BEQUEST ADMINISTRATION.

The Teacher-The Heritors and Minister and Presbytery-Plan of distributing the Fund-Assistant-Substitutes.

(1.) The Teacher.

To state historically the growth of the various requirements and regulations of the Trust, and to vindicate the justice and expediency of them, would be to go over ground already thoroughly traversed by Professor Menzies in the Reports of 1844 and 1854. I shall confine myself to a succinct statement of things as they stand, specially alluding only to such changes as have been introduced since the last general Report was issued eleven years ago.

The subjects in which the teachers, who desire to be admitted to participation, are required to pass, are Latin, Greek, English Grammar and Literature, History (including the outlines of Ancient and Modern History and Bible History), Geography Mathematical and Physical, Elements of Physics, Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra, and Trigonometry. The rules of the examination, and a specimen of the examination papers, with accompanying circular letter of instructions, will be found in Appendix 1.

masters.

To those unacquainted with Scotch education it may scem that this is too high a demand to make on teachers of parochial schools. But if we bear in mind that, in consequence of the inadequate development of the Middle School system in Scotland, the parochial schools have from their first institution been required to prepare pupils for the Universities, and that an university education is accessible on easy terms to almost all the northern youth of Scotland who give signs of promise, the Trustees will not be considered to have interpreted in too elevated a sense Mr. Dick's desire to raise the literary character of the parochial schoolThe enumeration of subjects in an examination programme is, I am aware, no indication of the qualifications of those who pass the examination. The quality of the answers, not the pitch or quantity of the questions, can alone indicate this. That the standard of "pass" in the Dick Bequest examination is sufficiently high, is testified by the facts that graduates of Aberdeen are frequently cast in their first attempts, and that marks of distinction have scarcely ever been obtained by any save those who had been already favourably known at their University for eminence in more than one department of study. Another means of measuring the quality of work required by the Trustees will be found in the Appendix to the Report of 1854, where may be found the answers of a candidate who earned the mark of distinction. This mark is given only to those candidates who pass the whole examination at

Р

one sitting, and whose papers as a whole are above average. The term FAIR is used by the Examiners to denote that amount of attainment which, while it is considered sufficient, is not deserving of special commendation. From this central point proceed in either direction two steps, those of the ascending scale being Good and Very Good, those of the descending, Deficient and Very Deficient.

The examination is held annually in September; and candidates are required to complete the examination not later than the third opportunity after the date of their appointment. Should they fail to do so, their whole papers, with the exception of those which have been characterized as Good or Very Good, are cancelled, and they must begin de novo.

When the whole examination has been satisfactorily completed, the teacher is paid such a proportion of the annual allowances reserved for him from the date of his entry on his duties as the statistics of his school, the report of the Visitor, and the character of his examination seem to entitle him to. Those who pass with distinction are further credited with a certain number of marks for scholarship, which tell favourably on the amount payable to them during their whole future tenure of office; and, in addition to this, unusually high proficiency obtains an immediate pecuniary reward.

The effect of scholarship on all future annual payments to the teacher brings me naturally to explain next the rules of allocation; but before doing so I

would refer the reader to the examination statistics of the ten years ending Martinmas 1862, and which will be found in the Appendix (11.)

From this table it appears that, during these ten years, 8 have received pecuniary rewards for unusually high proficiency; that, in addition to these, 8 have received the mark of distinction which adds permanently to all future allowances; and that 12 teachers and 7 substitutes failed from various causes to complete their examination.1

As it is interesting to note to what extent scholarship and efficient school-keeping are found in conjunction, I have examined the "Scheme of Division" as it stands at this date, and find that of those who have marks assigned to them for distinction in scholarship, 11 stand in the first class as practical teachers, 3 in the second class, and 5 are average, while only 2 are decidedly inferior. This result, I think, substantiates what my observation of schools has long led me to conclude, that superior scholarship is only an exhibition, in a specific direction, of superior qualities of the intellectual and moral nature as a whole, and that the powers and conscientiousness exhibited in the attainment of knowledge will, as a general rule, be found available in the practical work of life, whatever that may be.

1 On the arithmetical knowledge of the teachers, see Professor Kelland's letter in the chapter on the arithmetic as found in the schools, p. 274.