2. The life of St. Thomas à Becket, and the causes of the contest between the ecclesiastical and civil powers in his time. 3. The several Crusades, their influence on English manners, and on the power of the nobles. Or, in Scotland, 4. State when and how the Scottish King became a vassal of the King of England; and also when and how he was freed from that vassalage. SECTION III. *1. The wars with the Scots in the reigns of the three Edwards, I., II., III. 2. The events of the reign of Richard II. 3. The wars arising from disputes about succession to the throne. The chiefs of greatest note which they produced. The general effect on the country of the Wars of the Roses. SECTION IV. *1. The chief events of the reign of Henry VIII. 2. The progress of the Reformation in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 3. The exploits of the English navy during the period of the Stuarts. Or, in Scotland, 4. Give a short account of the reign of Mary, Queen of Scots. SECTION V. *1. The complaints of the Parliament, and the chief events of the civil war in the reign of Charles I. *2. The arbitrary acts of James II. which eventually lost him the throne. *3. The foreign policy of William III. SECTION VI. 1. The chief exploits of Marlborough, the objects and the results of the wars in which he was engaged. 2. An account of the Declaration of Rights. 3. The rise and progress of British settlement in North America till the Declara. tion of Independence. SECTION VII. *1. The rise of our Indian Empire, and a short history of it up to the extinction of the East India Company. 2. The political events which promoted silk-weaving in England. 3. Enumerate the chief colonial dependencies of Great Britain, and recapitulate the chief events in the history of Canada. WRITTEN EXAMINATIONS. 66 TO THE EDITOR OF THE EDUCATIONAL RECORD." SIR,-Competitive examinations, both public and private, are of inestimable value to both pupils and teachers, for thereby defects and excellences are developed, and emulation is excited in each, to a degree it is impossible to secure by any other During the whole of the ten years in which I have been in this school, I have held half-yearly private written examinations, as a valuable preparation for the public ones by her Majesty's Inspector. means. About a month before the time, we commence reading selected lessons in our reading-books, e.g. the geographical and the historical portions only, of the Daily Lesson-Book, No. IV. We also recapitulate lessons of the whole work done during the past six or twelve months. All who are in the compound rules are required each day, till the examination, to work one sum in each of the compound rules they have passed through before working their usual ones-e.g., a boy in compound multiplication would do one each lesson in compound addition and subtraction. The week before the public examination, I have all the senior section of the school seated in the desks, from twelve till one o'clock, to avoid confusion and distraction Each scholar is furnished with a large slate, upon which from the other scholars. he is required to write down the answers only to the oral questions given from the "Examination Book," where all the records of each examination are preserved for reference and comparison, so that the progress of each pupil from time to time may be accurately ascertained. The teacher may thus obtain the materials to give a certificate specifying any pupil's exact attainments in each branch. The questions are such only as admit of very brief answers, to economise the time of the scholars and the examiner, and are limited to seven, never more nor less, for the sake of uniformity. The teacher goes around, and marks off the incorrect answers, noting the number of such on each slate, after which they are entered in the "Register," according to the following scale :-No error, A; one, A-; two, B; &c. For testing reading, each pupil reads a whole Lesson-Book, No. IIJ., and a piece of poetry. examined, and marked to the same extent. copy of the same map, animal, or other object. The seven testing questions should cover the whole extent of the lessons during the twelve or six months. Here is an example in which we travel through Europe, Asia, Africa, America, British Colonies, England, Scotland, and Ireland :— Geography paragraph in prose in the Daily For writing, the copy-books are And so in drawing, each one makes a (1.) Name the gulf north of the Baltic, and the straits to the Persian Gulf? (2.) Mention the two parts of the Gulf of Guinea, and the river on which Washington stands ? (3.) Name the two English colonies in Borneo, and state their situation? (4.) Give the two capes near Milford Haven? (5.) What are the N. and S. points of the Hebrides? (6.) Mention the river on which Wexford stands ? (7.) Name the chief town and river for the porcelain manufacture in England? Here is a specimen of the register : PRIVATE WRITTEN EXAMINATION. No. 20. Jones, John + B- B- C CD D-A-B- C- B- C-D-B- 3 8 N.B.-All marked plus are the "excellent," and are the highest attained by any pupil. The "moderate" includes all above C-, which mark is unsatisfactory. The parent should be furnished with a copy of this register referring to his son. There should also be a whole copy suspended in the school-room for the inspection of all the pupils and visitors. H. H. OPEN COMPETITION. A FACT of great interest in the history of the British School at Doncaster occurred recently. It appears that there exists in that town an ancient foundation school with an ample endowment; and that this establishment has lately been placed on a new footing, and, under the authority of the Charity Commissioners, organized and equipped in such a manner as more fully to carry out the intention of the founders, and to meet the requiremens of modern society. Among other beneficial provisions of the new constitution, the trustees have opened an absolutely free education to a certain number of their young fellow-townsmen, who may show in early boyhood signs of intelligence or genius. They have required that there shall be always ten boys taught in the school free of all charge, selected by an open competitive examination in elementary branches of knowledge, to bear the honourable title of "Corporation Scholars," and to enjoy the advantage of a gratuitous education (on the sole condition of diligence and good conduct) to the very close of their youthful training. They expressed the hope that the existence of this periodical competition, with its great prospective advantages, will act as a powerful stimulus upon other schools in Doncaster, and form a perpetual memento to all classes of the inhabitants, of their personal interest in the success and welfare of their public Grammar School. It was determined by the managers and the teacher of the British School to avail themselves of this proposal, and to send up to the competitive examination some of the boys who had been educated there. At the first examination in 1862, thirty candidates in all presented themselves, and of them six were sent up from the British School by Mr. Hughes. Five of these boys passed, and were admitted to the Grammar School at its opening. It was afterwards found that one of the successful candidates from another quarter had exceeded the prescribed age of 12 years; and the vacancy thus left was filled up by the selection of the sixth boy from the British School, who was the next in order of merit to those who had been previously admitted. This is only one of many instances in which the wise provisions of the Charity Commission Act have been the means of re-establishing, on an economical and practicable basis, institutions, out of which all the use and beauty had been negligently permitted to wear out in the course of years; but the example has special value as a type of the relation which may sometimes subsist between the higher and the elementary schools of the same neighbourhood. The incident is very creditable alike to the trustees of the Grammar School, and to the British School teacher, who has thus encouraged some of his pupils to win for themselves by open competition— not a place in the Civil Service, or any material advantage-but the right to receive a higher and sounder education. BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY. LEGACIES, DONATIONS, NEW ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTIONS, &c. Subscriptions and Donations will be thankfully received by Messrs. HANBURYS and Co., Bankers to the Society, 60, Lombard-street; and at the Society's House, Borough-road. GEORGE UNWIN, GRESHAM STEAM PRESS, BUCKLERSBURY, LONDON, E.C. THE EDUCATIONAL RECORD. . BRITISH AND FOREIGN SCHOOL SOCIETY. ANNIVERSARY MEETING. THE Annual General Meeting of the Subscribers and Friends of the Society will take place on Monday, the 11th of May next, in the Borough Road, at 12 o'clock. It will be preceded, as usual, by the Examination of the Boys of the Practising School, at 10 o'clock. The Right Hon. the Earl Russell, K.G., President of the Society, will take the Chair at both meetings. TRAINING COLLEGES. THE session for the year 1863 commenced in the last week of January. Ninety-eight male students were admitted into the Institution in the Borough Road, of whom forty-one had previously spent a year in training, and having passed the examination were admitted as Queen's scholars of the second year. The rest are Queen's scholars of the first year, whose names are given in the list on page 263. At Stockwell, one-hundred-and-two female students were admitted, of whom twenty-eight are Queen's scholars of the second year. Students who have quitted the Training Colleges have recently been appointed to schools, as follows: Teachers have been supplied to Boys' Schools in Appleby; Bethnal Green; Bristol; Charlesworth, Derbyshire; Cornholme, Lancashire; Cripplegate; Dean-street, Southwark; Devonport; Duffryn, Caermarthenshire; Earl's Colne, Essex; Epping; Godalming; Godmanchester, Hunts; Guildford; High Wycombe; Lee, Blackheath; Manchester; Newcastle-on-Tyne; Nottingham; Portland; Redruth; Rotherham; Stockport; Stratford, Essex; Sudbury; Thame, Oxfordshire; Totton, near Southampton; Westowhill, Norwood; Wilmslow, Cheshire. The following are the places to which female teachers have been supplied :-Banbury; Brithdir, Merionethshire; Brynmawr, Monmouthshire; Cardiff; Carlisle; Charbury, Oxfordshire; Chichester ; Cwin, near Swansea; Dean-street, Southwark; Denton, Norfolk; Hackney-road; Hyde, Cheshire; Ipswich; Mile-end-road; Newcastle-on-Tyne; New Shildon, Durham; Padiham, Lancashire; Peterborough; Portland; Rochford; Royston; Seaton Sluice, Durham; Stratton, near Swindon; Sudbury; Tottenham; Warrington; Writtle, near Chelmsford. LOCAL INTELLIGENCE. NORTHERN DISTRICT.-In addition to numerous engagements in Manchester and other parts of Lancashire, Mr. Davis has visited thirty-two towns and villages in the counties of Chester, York, Durham, Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester. He has inspected sixty-one schools, conducted six public examinations, attended several conferences of school committees, and presided at three teachers' meetings. PADIHAM BRITISH SCHOOL.-The annual public examination of the Padiham School was conducted by Mr. Davis on the evening of December 10th, in the presence of a very crowded audience. George Foster, Esq., of Sabden—an old and warm supporter of the school-occupied the chair, and as the boys and girls are remarkably well-trained throughout the year, and came to the examination to do their best, the audience was highly gratified. DROYLSDEN BRITISH SCHOOL.-The public examination of this old and successful British School attracted, as usual, a very large audience on December 12th. In the absence of Richard Christy, Esq., the chair was taken by the Rev. P. Thompson, incumbent of Droylsden, who examined the scholars in a very searching manner in Scripture. The secular part of the examination was conducted by Mr. Davis and Mr. Ashworth, and the results showed that the school fully deserves the good name it has so long enjoyed. LEICESTER BRITISH SCHOOL.-The interest which the people of Leicester take in the public examination of their British School seems to increase every year. The large Temperance Hall was crowded to excess on January 16th, and were the hall double its present size, it would have been filled. The examination was conducted by Mr. Davis, and the immense audience thoroughly appreciated the accurate and intelligent replies given by the boys and girls to nearly all the questions put to them. The singing was conducted by one of the pupil-teachers, and was marked by a good deal of precision and taste. MANCHESTER LANCASTERIAN BOYS' SCHOOL.-The annual public examination of the Lancasterian Boys' School was held on January 30th, under the presidency of Alderman Neild, the oldest and warmest friend of the school. The people were admitted by ticket, and the large room was densely packed. Mr. Davis and the Assistant Masters conducted the examination, which was of a thoroughly interesting tion to the ordinary book prizes, three special prizes were given by Mr. Gladstone |