that of teaching, it must be acknowledged that its national character might be, and ought to be, greatly increased. Much, no doubt, has already been done. There is far greater activity, both in the professorial chairs and in college tuition, than there was a quarter of a century ago. The circle of university honours has been considerably extended, and college fellowships are now held as rewards for proficiency in other studies than those of classics and mathematics. The name of science is no longer denied, as I remember it to have been, to a knowledge of the works of Nature, or of the principles of human society; and wise appropriations of revenues, running before very much to waste, have been made in favour of studies such as those of jurisprudence, languages, and natural philosophy. But all these improvements touch chiefly the inner life of the universities themselves, and have but an indirect effect on the outer world, which constitutes the bulk of the nation. It may be hoped that the Commissions newly appointed to examine into the funds of the universities and their colleges will recommend that they should be largely used, as has already been suggested, for the spread of the higher branches of knowledge throughout our population. The absorption of the income of a fellowship without any benefit to the public in the way of mental exertion is no doubt much more rare than it was; but it is still true that a considerable proportion of collegiate endowments is in hands from which no educational work is rendered in return. It is argued, of course, that fellowships are given as rewards for merit shown in the degree examinations; but it does not therefore follow that they should be given without conditions. The best reward for a man who has shown intellectual power is to open out to him a field of active exertion, and probably the worst is to tempt him to allow his finer faculties to rust in idleness. Let us hope to see the day when every fellow will be engaged in educational work, and the immense resources of the universities be wholly devoted to the true object of their existence, the spread of sound knowledge. Conceive the effect that would be produced if, in our large towns and in every county of England, there were found highly cultivated men, fresh from university life, sent out by Oxford and Cambridge as the missionaries of science and literature, and bound to devote their time to public teaching in lectures and classes. It is useless to say that such services are not required, for the best proof to the contrary exists in the fact that they are demanded everywhere. A healthy perception of their own ignorance is beginning to pervade the English people, and they are pushing towards the light, though often blindly. I have been struck with the desire shown

in my own neighbourhood to obtain instruction from the lectures of university men who have proved their attainments. To some small extent this has been done, but what is wanted is such a diversion of the incomes of existing endowments from modern misuse or non-use to their original aim as may supply accredited teachers in all districts of the country. This alone can make university teaching national in its extent. Tradition may or may not speak truly when it tells us of the thousands of students of all classes who thronged the universities in medieval times. It is hard, for instance, to know whether the tales of the popularity of Vacarius, professor of law at Oxford, in the reign of Stephen, are true representations of the facts. But of this we may be quite sure, that the higher branches of education, as taught both at Oxford and Cambridge, and in the Inns of Court, were much more popularized in the middle ages than they are at present. Then they were the heritage of the nation; now they are, to a large degree, the privilege of a class. It should be the noble effort of the present generation to restore the ancient lights to the land, and place within the reach of every subject the blessing of high culture.

I say, of every subject; for I am firmly convinced that if we desire a truly national progress, the education of women in every grade must be pushed on pari passu with that of men. When we consider the influence of women on each generation of children, not only through the number constantly engaged in tuition, but through the mothers who necessarily give the first bent to every man's mind, we shall perceive that a so-called national system of education which should in any department of its operations, much more in the highest of all, leave the women out of account, would commit the most stupid of blunders. I have already shown that the universities, through their local examinations, have given a marked impulse to the better education of girls, and I may add that the Senate of Cambridge, by its plan of sending examiners to any girls' school which may apply for them, has done away with the possibility of valid excuse for any schoolmistress who shuns the test of examination. It remains still to extend to the education of girls the benefit of university teaching, as well as of university testing. Now there is only one institution, so far as I know, which is attempting to do this, and its aim is so excellent that I am desirous of calling your earnest attention to its objects and present position. Girton College, situate at a short distance from Cambridge, has been founded by Miss Emily Davies, whose valuable evidence on the education of girls before the Schools Inquiry Commission is known to all interested in the subject, for the purpose

of affording to young women of the upper class the opportunity of real university teaching and training. It is not a school, and must not be confounded with such institutions as the Bedford College in London, or the Ladies' College at Cheltenham, which are excellent girls' schools, answering to the grammar and public schools for boys. Girton College is intended for young ladies who, having completed their school education, are anxious to devote a further period of their lives to the higher branches of learning. The curriculum of studies and the examinations are precisely the same as those of the University of Cambridge; the lectures are given and the papers set by university professors and examiners; and those who pass the final examination obtain a degree-certificate, which is equivalent in merit to a university degree. I have read the reports of the examiners of the college, and I see that some of the students, recently as the college has come into existence, have shown the capacity to take high honours in the university triposes. This institution will, if adequately supported, work a most beneficial change in the education of women, and what I particularly impress on you is, that it is unique of its kind. It is the only organization which can make any pretension to supply a body of teachers of the same quality as the masters in public schools, and with their attainments similarly attested, and though the college is by no means confined to those who intend to follow the profession of teaching, we must look upon this as its most important object. It is so important, and the number of promising students who find the fees a serious impediment is so considerable, that I believe no better use of money could be found by those who desire the improvement of education than in the foundation of scholarships at Girton College. It is true that an urgent appeal has been made for funds to substitute a permanent building on the site newly acquired, and thus save the outlay on rent, which even now, with a limited number of students, is the only expense that is not covered by the income derived from fees; but it seems to me that the need for scholarships is even more pressing. The success of this college up to its present point is one of the most remarkable events in the educational history of the country, and I can entertain no doubt that a future of much greater prosperity will reward the perseverance of its founders.

The attention of the Association has on several occasions been called to the unsatisfactory condition of our secondary education, and to the want of good secondary schools. It may safely be said that our old public schools, and the new public schools constructed in imitation of the ancient models, provide on the whole fully and efficiently for the needs of the upper and middle

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classes. Harrow and Clifton leave little to be desired. At the other end of the social scale, the elementary schools, which will soon be formed in sufficient numbers to provide school accommodation for the whole of the weekly-wage class, give an education which will compare well with that given in the elementary schools of any other country. That the average of our primary schools should reach the standard already attained by our best National and British schools is, perhaps, as much as the most sanguine educational reformer could wish; but between the two classes which make use of our public schools and our elementary schools, there lies the great bulk of the middle class-a section of the community which includes all our tradesmen and most of our merchants and professional men, and which probably contributes more to the national exchequer, and to the cost of our so-called national education, than any other. What is the provision for the education of this class? On the Continent, the question would be at once and satisfactorily answered. France our attention would be drawn to the Lyceums; in Germany to the Latin schools, the science schools, and the commercial schools. In the United States and Scotland, the high schools would be pointed out. But in England the answer must be that the provision for the education of this important portion of the community is left in a great degree to private enterprise. It is true that there are endowed schools, that these have been much improved of late years, and that with the vigorous help of the Endowed Schools Commissioners, we may hope to see them utilized so as to get rid of much of this educational want. But even were the whole of the endowed schools in good working order, and organized to supply the exact needs of the middle class, it is certain that the educational provision would still be inadequate. Many of our towns are altogether without endowed secondary schools, and everywhere these schools fall short of the number required; and while this remark applies to the case of secondary schools for boys, it applies with far greater force to the want of such schools for girls. But it may be said, there are plenty of private schools, and some of these are excellently conducted. Admitting this most fully, there remains the fatal objection that many of them are utterly worthless, and that at present there exists no satisfactory test, I mean of a general nature, by which good private schools may be distinguished from bad. The local examinations, as I have shown, have done much, but many districts are destitute of their influence, and even where they exist, only a small percentage of schools avail themselves of the test. Many schoolmasters, and many more schoolmistresses, conscious of their own incompe

tency, shrink from an open trial. I greatly fear that this incompetency is more widely spread than some might be willing to believe. Notwithstanding admitted improvement, it still is unhappily true that those who have failed in every one of the pursuits to which middle-class respectability will lend itself, may and do open schools, profess to teach all and every subject of which they are themselves ignorant, and to practise, with an intuitive faculty which they do not possess, the art which most of any demands a conscientious training. The evil is the worse in its results, because few parents have the opportunity, even if they had the time and the ability, to distinguish between qualified and unqualified teachers. And let us remember that while this evil may apply more or less to all schools, it applies peculiarly to secondary schools. For our higher schools, the necessity of obtaining a university graduate is some guarantee, and frequently is a very high guarantee, that the teacher has passed through a certain curriculum, while in the elementary schools the requirement of a certificate, to obtain which the teacher must have given evidence, not only of knowledge, but what is of more importance, that he has paid attention to the art of teaching, affords a still greater certainty of due qualification. But to open a secondary school no certificate, examination, or registration of any sort is necessary. Surely it is not too much to ask that Government shall afford some kind of protection to the public in this matter. The case is closely analogous to that for which the Legislature has provided in respect to the medical profession. The Medical Act does not forbid any man to practise medicine who wishes to do so, but it does forbid him to assume any title which untruly describes him as a duly qualified practitioner, and it publishes a register containing the names of those who have been licensed by the proper authorities. This warning given, it leaves the public free to poison themselves with quacks at their pleasure, and it is believed that not a few avail themselves of the privilege. Now, without going so far as to advocate the German system, under which no person can open a school without a certificate of competency, I think that a register of teachers who have obtained a qualification ought to be issued yearly by the Privy Council. Such certificates need not be confined to a single source; they might be granted, for instance, by the Universities, or by the College of Preceptors, which has done and is doing much to improve the condition of middle-class schools, or by the Education Department, either on examination or as a condition of inspection. Such a certificate would be eagerly sought by good teachers, who now suffer grievously from the competition of unqualified persons, and it