STANDARD EXAMINATIONS. THEIR EVILS AND BENEFITS.

■' MLIX BKFiHtl1. TIIK I'.DrCATION'AL Ik- SIIICTK, AI'fKLANI) BRANCH, ON 14TH ifOVBJIUBB.]

ii is the saying of an ancient philosopher— rtOnesrthtbcroisnotliiuggreatbntman; in „ there is nothing great but mind." This is PT°ved by tlic dilily l iracticul os" perienco of the world. Tho almighty i ii.vimq treat power and inllnenco, but jfttod L greater by far. Tho power «erted by men ot master nunda, who ffsthernp valuable stores of knowledge, and 1 v them before tho world through tho nrass is greater than that of any other iency by which mankind is influenced. One book has repeatedly caused a storm in t h e ivorkl of thought which nothing short of divino cower could allay. As the product 0 [ mini so moves tho masses, it is clear that the producer should bo so regulated that its influence will be for Rood ; that it will i e ad those influenced in progressive paths of moral, intellectual, and religion!) improvement. It is by the guiding and developing of its laws in youth that the mind is so regulated. If properly trained •and suitably ttorod, it will bo a power for good; if neglected, it will bo a power for evil. Man acts on man, and in keeping with his spil'"^ and deportment in life is his influence morally elevating or immorally debasing. The importance to tho State, " then, of a proper system 0 { training its youth _ cannot be over-estimated. In proportion as tho edu cation of tho children is neglected will bo the increase of the criminal class of the com munity, and consequently, the additional cost of tho department of justice. It is not, however, a question of educa tion or no education wo are called to discuss. Happily we live in a country that has taken a foremost place on this great question, and has devised wise and liberal means for the training of the young. The principles of the system arc good, and with them we find no fault. But when we leave the leading principles, and come down to the arranging and carrying out of details, wo find much that we can reasonably take exception to. Good as the system is, it may bo spoilt by tho forcing of details not in keeping with its spirit. It is the conviction that there is room for improvement in tho working of details that leads us now to judge between tho benefits and tho evils of Standard ex aminations.

Education is a preparation for tlio duties of life, and it should bo the aim of those in terested in the cause to see that the train ing of the children is conducted in such a manner as will confer upon them the great est benefits that tho time and tho appliances will permit. Education aims at culture and utility. If the mind's soil is not cultivated it will be like our barren ti-tree wastes, pro ducing nothing of the useful. The mind makes the man, and education and study make the mind. This gives nobility, im portance, and responsibility to the office of teacher, for upon his performance of tho duties of his office does the success of his pupils in after life largely depend. Parents look to the teacher for the proper training of the children placed under his care, and if, in any way, he is hampered with burden some regulations, it is unfair to charge him with shortcomings in the children's pro gress. Yet when there are any short comings, it is the teacher who is blamed, not the regulations he 13 bound loyally to follow. Parents generally do not trouble themselves about the lines along which their children's education is carried on in school. It is sufficient for them that their children are getting on well, but if they are not making progress equal to what the parents expect, both the teacher and tho school of which he has charge suffer in name, no matter however apt as a teacher ho may be.

That the Standard examinations place many difficulties in the way of the pupil's general progress will, I think, not bo denied. No reasonable man will shut his eyes to the foot that these examinations are beset wish many ■evils. A goal is set before the pupil which he desires to reach, and which his teacher is equally desirous that he should reach with comfort to himself and credit to the school. There is but one way of reaching that goal, and that by following the hard and-fast line 3of the Standard in which the pupil is working. Within the lines there ■set down he must work,or he will not win. To win is his object: and his teacher ■endeavours so to train him that ho will run with ease and win with honours. His trainer's credit is at stake, and lie keeps him strictly to the course marked out in the Standard. It is presumed that the course is a wise one, and leading to profitable results. It is not my business at present to argue that it is not a wise course ; I mean that there is nothing laid down there that It is not desirable the child should learn. But I think we will not require to look very critically into the working out of the principle to find many evils. True education doe 3 not neglect any one faculty of mind to the advancing of another. It. is not an end, but means to an end. By ■it the child is equipped f©r the business of life ; and if by the process of equipment the whole of the mind's faculties are not cul tivated, the pupil is sent forth into the -world suffering from the defects of tho system under which he was trained. It is not a healthy state when one faculty is abnormally cultivated, and success depends ■upon the measure of that cultivation. Yet we find that memory is exercised to an •extent which, if fitted to gain the one pur pose of tbis undue pressure, is not in the interests of a sound education. It ia well to cultivate memory, but it is not well to press it to the utmost to gain a certain end, merely to throw off its accumulated • stores when that end has been gained. We have read or heard of many great feats of memory, and we must have been struck with the fact that they were not all on the part of persons of education, showing that the culture which ive associate with school life is not an essential requisite in the train ing of memory. Nor is memory, of itself, sail that is required in the process of edu •eating the child. It is one of the evila of Standard Exami nations that they foster a system of cram ming. A certain number of facts have to ■be acquired in order that the pupil may ipass safely through the ordeal of examina tion, .and the collating of these facts and 'tho storing of them in the pupil's mind is !the work to which both teacher and taught set thernsolves from one examination to another. The teacher has a pretty good idea, from the kind of questions usually put by the Inspector, what it is necessary to Joad their memory with to pass his pupils, ■and he loads accordingly. Whether it be rivers or capes in geography, participles in :grammar, or dates in history, he works his pupils up to the retaining of as much upon their memory as will carry them through. And who will blame tho teacher for this ? It'is what he is placed in his position to "SOmplish—to pass his pupils on from Standard to Standard until they have run the course prescribed by the Act; and then ">ey pass away into spheres in the world, •emembering but little indeed of what they

learned. Cramming is an unhealthy stato of matters. It is just liko ova-loading tho stomach. If this bo done, tho digestive orpins arc weakened, and tho stomach re fuses to keep possession of its unhealthy load. Cram cold facts into a child's mind and toll him to keep them there for repro duction at tho Standard Examination, anil you cause him to lose sight of the great pur pose of education in training all tho faculties of his mind, in sharpening them, and giving them bent for his greatest possible good in tho purpose ho may afterwards have in life. Education should prepare tho child for filling with credit and honour whatever sphere ho may bo called to occupy in life. It wo trace tho history of those children that have been most successful in tho cram ming process, retaining facts in their memory and reproducing them at the ex amination, wo will find that, as a rule, the cramming has been injurious to them rather than promotivo of their success in life. Tho mind has been strained, it has become wearied and disinclined to native exercise; inertia has ceased hold of its powers, and the subject of cram is not fitted, as ho ought to bo, to do his life work with intelligence, energy and success. This re sult of cramming is not peculiar to tho work of primary education. I could point to some notable instances of University men who, during their University course, carried all before them and raised high expectations of future eminence, only to causo disap pointment and regret. I'rizes and honours wore carried off with case, but in after-life the prizes were few and tho disappointments numerous. I knew a minister who when but a lad in his teens carried all before him at tho Glasgow University. He was facile princcjiii, and with tho utmost ease carried off the much-coveted gold medal. He gave promise of being a bright and shining light in tho world of thought, but with that Uni versity effort his mental strength was ex hausted. Ho passed away into tho quiet Walks of life, battling hardly against tho world's frowns, broken in health, disap pointed and disappointing, until kind deatli relieved him from suffering, and closed a life that, in its training season, gave promise of no ordinary degree of eminence. This was the elleet of cram. He had a most re tontivo memory, and everything was crammed into it to tho subordination of those powers of mind which, had they re ceived a proportionate amount of culture, would have given him impulses to action he did not possess. 1 am tar from deprecating tho oxcrcise of memory. It is the teacher's duty to culti vate it in a degree comincnsurato with what is required of it. What I complain of is that too much is roquired of it by the Standards, and that in obediefaco to these requirements tho teacher is forced to cram. According to his succoss in passing his pupils on from one Standard to another is he credited with teaching powor. His own prosperity requires that ho cram into the mind of his pupils whatever he has reason to believe will carry them through the crucial test; and, following on tho lines of previous examinations, ho crams into .thoir mind much that will bo of no other benefit to tho child than that of being propared to answer a " catch question." If the object aimed at were the bringing out of tho pupil's ac quaintance with the subjocts taught during the course of the [year, and only that, the time devoted to cramming in anticipation of " catching" might bo employed to the greator benefit of the cause of education. But while the teacher stands in dread of a few peculiar questions that may lead to the plucking of his pupils and tho damaging of his name as a teachor, it would bo un reasonable to expect him not to protect his pupils against the fato of failure

Nor am I to bo regarded aa speaking dis paragingly of examinations : generally. I am fully alive to their benefits. Tho prin ciple is good. It is where the practice does not tally with tho principle) that tho evil begins. The Inspectors are, doubtless, most excellent and able men, but they are not infallible. The amount of work laid upon them, and the short time they have at their command to devote to the examination of each school, enables them to have but a cursory glanco at tho real state of the school. The setting of the papers, and the examining of the answers and valuing of the same, entails a large amount of time, trouble, and patienco, and it is no cause for wonder that on the question of results the Inspector and the teacher are not always in "sympathetic accord." To my mind, tho machinery would work more smoothly and satisfactorily, and produce results at which no one would have occasion to cavil, if the examinations were conducted over the whole colony at one and the same time. By adopting this method the TjKpcc tors would be free to visit the schools more frequently, and examine more carefully into their real working. At present they have not sufficient time to devote to the real work of inspection,nnd there is largo excuse for them if their mode of conductingthc examinations does not always meet with unqualified approval. Not only are there no difficulties, so far as I can see, in the way of simultaneous Standard examinations, but there is much to commend them, and, if carried out, each school under the system would be placed in the true relative position it boars, educa tionally, to its neighbour. If a Central Board of competent and practical mon wero appointed to set the necessary questions, these could be printed, and distributed ovor the colony in sealed packets, addressed to tho Chairman of each School Committee. The question as to the person who is to supervise the examination, I would solve by placing each teacher as supervisor of his neighbour's school. His care for his own will lead him to watch the examination as zealously, and far more jealously, than any Inspector could do. When the examination is finished, the supervisor could seal up the papers containing the answers, and nand them over to the Chairman of Committeo, whose duty it would be to forward them to the proper quarter. Tho Board of Examiners having examined the answers and valued thorn, could communicate with each local Board, who would, in due time and course, roport the results to each school, and pub lish them in the local papers. This method would leave half of the school without ex amination, for it could only apply to Stan dards 11., 111., IV., V., and VI., but these constitute the school, and in comparison of these, the examination of the juniors is a matter of minor importance, and might be safely left to the teacher.

There is no difficulty in the Act in the way of adopting such a course as I suggest —an Order-in-Couneil is all that is neces sary. The only difficulty I see is the mag nitude of the work of examining and valuing the answers, but that is not insurmount able. Many hands make light work, and if the examiners' questions were placed in the hands of competent persons, together with the children's answers, results would soon be arrived at. But the difficulty is insigni ficant when placed in contrast with tho adrantages. Every school having the same work during the year, and the same sets of questions at the end of the year, no ono could be placed at a disadvantage. Each one having the same year's work as the whole, and judged by the same questions on that work as the whole, would stand upon its own merits. There could then be no charge of unfairness or partiality. The attainments of each school would be placed in fair contrast to thoso of the rest, and all interested would be able to see it in its true educational standing.

The Inspectors, thus sot free from the burden of their work, would have time to look more carefully into tho detail work of each school, and in this way bo of far I'reater Ixmehttotho school than thoy siro at pre sent, This would be a great gain to the cause of education, for while there are many teachers of groat experience in charge of schools, there are others who are not so ex perienced, and whoso usefulness would bo much increased were they nioro frequently visited by an Inspector. This is, moreover, as I viow it, the true duty of an Inspoetor. His work ought to bo that of general in spection, examining carefully and frequently into everything that bears on the work and progress of the school. At present his time is almost entirely taken up with tlio work connected with tho Standard examinations, and during the short visit he pays to the school onoo a year, to conduct the examina tion, he can form but a very imperfect idea of what tho state of the school really is. It is required by an Order-in-Council that "tho work of the Public School Inspector shall be so arranged as to provide for two visits to every public school in every year, one visit for the purposes of general inspec tion, and the other visit for the purpose of examination according to tho Standards." According as the work is now arranged, it would bo almost impossible for the Inspec tors to visit every school twice in every year. It is highly desirable that every school should bo so visited, and that could bo accomplished with ense if thu work of ex amination were transferred toaCentral Hoard appointed for tho purpose. If this were done, many of tho minor evils of Standard examinations would be removed, and what I regard as a very great evil, the necessity for simple cramming, would bo greatly modi lied, if not entirely abolished. But while I am called by my subject to point out what 1 conceive to bo thu evils of the system, I am required to say .something in regard to tho benefits. Tho principle of periodical examinations is sound. Xo suno man will, 1 think, be found to deny that such examinations are, very beneficial, They are, indeed, necessary for tho purpose of classification of tho teachers as well as the scholars. All teachers are not possessed of tho same measure of teaching qualifications. Some are far more successful than others. The principle of reward according to merit should apply to the teacher as well as to t he scholar. A teacher loaves his stamp on tho school under his care. Jlis pupils bear wit ness to the fact that ho is " apt to tench." But, if in a comparatively obscure position, he may continue for tunny long years turning out good scholars in orcry sense of the term, and yet have his light hid under a bushel, if no opportunity presents of placing it on a candlestick. Standard examinations pre sent that opportunity. They show (ho teacher. Makingampleallowanceforlhoovils spoken of, there yet remains abundance of room for the good stamp of a good teacher, and that is made visible by tho Standard examinations. It is true that, however suc cessful as a teacher, his abilities may remain unrecognised and his merits insulliciently re warded under tho present .system. His rank in known only at the Board office, and pro bably tho record of it is stowed away in some recess of tho Inspector's mind, if simul taneous examinations were adopted, this disadvantage would bo remedied. If a list wero published in each provincial district, giving tho por-oentago of passes gained by each school, tho classification ol teachers would bo an easy matter. It would be patent to a discerning public, I am not forgetting that circumstances alter eases, and that tho state in which a teacher got his school, and tho length of time he had charge prior to the examina tion, must be taken into account in deter mining a question of merit; nor am 1 forgetting that if a teacher goes from one school to another, and maintains his per centage of passes, he has no occasion to plead such circumstances even if his charge extended to only half the year. The Standard examinations reveal tho teacher; they tell his qualifications ; and the classi fication of teachers thus determined by their measure of success as teachers would be more . satisfactory and complete were results arrived at over tho colony by the same questions on tho same year's work.

Those examinations arts beneficial also in provoking a spirit of emulation. This spirit possesses bodies as well as individuals. We see it in one school striving against another in athletic exorcises. lam aware that somo authorities on the question of education do not approve of the spirit of emulation being curried into the school or the class. lam open to conviction, but 1 fail to see that what i.s common to, and we commend in, all life's walks, can be wrong in the preparation for the.se walks. It ia the healthy spirit of emulation that spurs tcacherd as well as scholars on to battle for the prize-! that lies temptingly before them—improved position for the teacher, v scholarship or other prize for tho scholar. Approve of. it or not, it cannot be eliminated from school WOi'k, and, even at the risk of being called heterodox, I will hold my opinion that it would be a grout pky ii iteunld. it is a valuable spirit. It leads on all the mental energies to acccomplish the work of which they are capable, and which they would not perform if not so urged. If it have this effect, then surely it ought to be cultivated, and there is nothing to set it on (ire equal to the friction of competition. Lot teachers and scholars see, by classification, the place each occupies by merit in t'uo education scheme of tho colony, and if tho spirit of emulation be fostered, the next classifica tion in accordance with the Standard examinations will show a wonderful change of places. The benefits to bo derived from Standard examinations are indeed numerous and important. Thoy bring to light many things of which, perhaps, the teacher was ignorant. Thoy show the weak points and the strong points in his system. They tell the effect of his mothod of conveying instruction, and they exhibit the measure in which he has per formed his duty in .going faithfully over the whole field of instruction laid out for tho work of the year,

Examinat iensare very necessary—they arc totho teacher, the scholar, and the State what stock-taking is to the merchant; they toll of progress or no progress, profit or no profit. There are evils connected with them of which I have not spoken, but those aro not the outcome of the principle ; they arise from an unnecessary and heterogeneous mass of details and in the method of working these, which lias the effect of intimidating the teacher and forc ing him, in self-defence, to adopt measures, to meet the requirements of tho examination, which lie feels are not calculated to promote the objects of the system. It is a vide r,nd lilwivil ticquiiiut amio with all that is necessary lo coiidcitui;o a good, sound, English education, the State aims at, and anything that is fitted to cramp and dwarf the mind of tho pupil, by cramming his mind with lumber to the crushing out of valuable general knowledge, is to be deprecated. It is a wise and a liberal system, well adapted to train the rising generation in paths of intelligence and usefulness, and it will be the fault of those interested in the cause of education if thero aro permitted to bo grafted on to it encumbrances and hindrances from which its spirit recoils. Let its spirit and its working bo in harmony. Let Inspectors and teachers and Committees have a oneness of purpose to make the syg

tcm productive of tho greatest amount of good possible, and assuredly A virtuous populace will rise the while .Am Maml a wall of lire around those much loved isles.

Premonitions of Danger.

A .Ttr.nroad Engineer Gives His Experience.

A POBTHIQHT or so'ago I was on my way to the lav West, travelling on a fast through )>. and 0. express. On a bright Sunday morning I awoke in my berth and realised that tlio train was standing still. 1 raised the curtain and pooped out. Tho sun was well up in the heavens, and the train .stood in a donso wood, away from any living creaLuru. it did not movo for some time" and I arose, made my toilet, and wont out side. The train stood partially on a long treallework or open bridgo, and 1 could see smoke rising from the end of the structure furthest from us. I walked out past tho locomotive and on tho bridge, where i met a number of gentlemen talking. "What's tho matterI.'" 1 inquired of

"Oh, a section of tho bridge has burned," replied the gentleman.

_ " Lucky that the engineer gawthefiro in time to save us," I remarked, gazing down into the water below, and shuddering at tho thought of being piled up, in asleeping car, in the chasm lhafyawned for me. '•But tho engineer says ho didn't sco any tiro when ho stopped," exclaimed one. "No," said tho engineer, who stood hard by, "I saw no lire. Iliad a presentiment as .1 approached tho bridgo. Something seemed to warn mo that it was not safe to cross thu bridge, and it came upon me so strongly that 1 just stopped the train and got out of the cab. and I hadn't walked twenty steps before I saw that the act had saved many lives, for the whole train would have gone down that hole, although it is but the length of two rails. Thu fire didn't show up much above tho ties, as it was con fined mostly to the timbers below. Kight there in that little shed a watchman sleeps (pointing to a diminutive dwelling a half dozen rods away), and it was his duty, and it has been for years, to bo out here, and to pass over the bridge just before and after us; but somehow I felt that he was not faithful, that lie might bo asleep, and 1 could see in my mind, as 1 approached tho bridge, the whole train going down todeath, and could hear the cries of tho dying, and so I just stopped, as I said. Tfio watch man, suro enough, was asleep. Oh, you needn't laugh, for this is not the first time presentiments have saved lives wheji my hand was at tlio throttle. No, sir, I've been in just this position boforo" (blush ing to the tips of his fingers as two or throe gentlemen smiled and whistled a bit).

"Xo," said lie, "I had a foreboding of danger stronger than this a few years ago. I was running then on a division of the Sandusky. There is a little station on that road whero the passenger-trains .seldom stop. It has a siding for troights, however, and thero was nearly always a freight side tracked as I passed through on the fast express, That little place is on a long stretch of splendid track, and for years, tlio engineers had that as a racing ground, and I tell you somo mighty good tiino has been made thero. At the time I had this presentiment tho rivalry among the engineers on that stretch of track was at it.s height. It was n sharp winter night that I approached the station on tho down trip. It was fo^gy, and a fierco wind blew. I hadn't stopped there for three months, and as 1 went into that good track witli a dash, and approached the village at a terrible speed, I never thought of stopping. My locomotive was the fleetest on the road, and I was congratu lating myself, as tho fireman drew his watch, that I was making the best time on record, and was thinking to myself how 1 would appal the trainmen side-tracked as I dashed through. When a. quarter of a mile from tho station something whispered to me to stop. I didn't want to stop ; and reflecting how chagrined I would bo if I would have to stop when in the heat of a successful race, 1 tossed my head, opened tho throttle a little more, and oh, how wo llew ! Seems to mo I never saw a train come so near (lying, and yet she just lay as close to and smoothly on the track as could be. Quick as thought 1 was commanded by an inner being to stop, or it would make a run to death ; and, without effort, my bands reversed the engine and applied "the air. There was no signal, no whistle nor bell sounded, and the fireman was astounded to see my frantic movements, Tho train lay still a few feet past tho depot, and as 1 jumped from my engine I felt so embarrassed that I almost burned. 1 could make no explanation to tho con i.ki'.'t.iu v.i the trainmen who came about me i looked all over the engine. Everything was all right. I cast my eyes along tho train. Nothing appeared wrong. Then I walked down the track in front of tho engine. When I had gone less than a hundred feet, and beyond the rays of tho headlight I ran against a box car ! It stood right out in front of the engine, full on tho track. The switch had been left open and tho wind had skewed it out. It was loaded with tho carbon oil. Had I not Boon it, scores of persons would have been killed and burned.

" I am positive that there is such a thing as being forewarned," continued thcold engin eer. "That warning which stopped me up on tho Sandusky came, only a few months after I saved, by a hair's breadth, a whole train from being wrecked in a culvert. I was dashing along one rainy night a few months lu'foro Unit, The country was open and my train was tho fast express. I had no reason to suspect any trouble, and didn't; but something told mo, as I was approach ing a crossing, that I should stop; and that dos'rj to stop the train fastened upon mo until I found myself, a minute later, stand ing beside my engine. It was so dark I could scarcely see my hand before me. I found the culvert tilled with cross ties, wedged down so closely that they would have thrown us flat on our backs, and the work was done so well that I would not have seen them had not I stopped and wr.lked right up on them with a lantern. Did I ever see another engineer who was a believer in presentiments? Lots of them. I know old Jack Crane ; and Jack Crane will swear that a foreboding is surer than eyesight itself. I remember a thrilling story that he told mo many years ago, and I have thought uf it every time 1 have been Stopped. He was running an express up in northern Ohio soveral years ago—it may have been on the B. and o.—and one night he fell behind time. When ho ran into a station he got out to oil his engine, and was doing it in the most mechanical way, totally absorbed in thought, when the con ductor camo up and remarked that they were very much behind, and he hoped thoy would be able to make up some time before they reached the end of the run. "I shall do my very best," said Jack, "but wo will be delayed at the covered bridge." The conductor asked how the delay would be caused, and Jack remarked that he didn't know, but there was something wrong. He contended that thore was trouble ahead,

and tho conductor couldn't laugh it out of him. Jackwiidho dashed along over that road with all tho speed his engines would give him, and us ho ncared thai, bridge ho iiiodo up Iji.—- mind not to make a fool of him sulf by stopping, oven if he did meet with nn accident. Ho said his heart Bank within him as ho came within sight of tho bridge, but ho nerved himself, and when within '200 feet of it thought lie would go right through, believing- his impression that something was wrong—gotten (it the station—was but a fancy. When within 100 feet of the Long Bridge, which looked dark and threatening, he was seized with a desire to reverse his engine. A terrible foreboding of disaster and death took hold of him. He coukl .sco tho train crashing through the structure, and hear tho screams of agony as tho loads of humanity were hurled to death below. Like a Hash of lightning he reversed his engine and screamed down brakes. Tho train ran ."00 foot before it stopped—almost through the bridge. Jack got out and walked ahead of the ongino a few uteps. There he found that which had caused him to stop. 'Die rails wore opened just a few inches on either side, so that the gap could scarcely be detected, and yet so that tho train would have been derailed and would have gone through the bridgo and into tho river. You can't make .lack Crane beliove thei'o is nothing in forebodings and pre monitions." — [From the " Washington Critic."]

A BASHFUL BRIDEGROOM.

Basiii'Ti, brides nro more commonly to bo

mot with than bashful bridegrooms, and America i,s tlio List place in the world whore

ono would oxpoct to conio across a suitor who was, not only too timid to do his own lovo-making, but too nervous to face tho ordeal of a wedding before tho guests invited for the ceremony. Such a man there is, however, do was bold enough to fall in lovcj with a. rich fanner's pretty daughter, bui lacked courage to plead his cau.so in poivon. He paid his court, there lore, says an American paper, by proxy, and when this shamefaced suitor was ac cepted, and (ho day for the marriage li.xcd, he fairly ran away, " hiding himself in an oiithoiirio." Tho bride, greatly perplexed by the absence of her future husband, caused a search to be made, which resulted in the discovery of the truant, but ho rosohi tely refused to come forward, and claim the maiden in the face of tho assembled guests. The obliging friend who had acted as proxy in tho love-making, soeing impediments to carrying his services so far as to play the part of bridegroom, remonstrated with tho bashful young man upon hi.s misplaced timidity. The latter expressed his willingness to be married, but on tho stipulation that the ofliciaaing minister should come to the outhouse and perform his duty. There being no ap parent means of overcoming this inoppor tune lit of diitidonco, the parson was appealed to, the bride persuaded, and tho ceremony tool; place in the locality pre ferred by this singular young man. When the company gathered together for tho ceremony learned how the marriage had been performed they returned home in disgust.—" I'eople."

HONOURS FOR THE BLIND.

Tiiv: Japnnofo liavc lately abolished some privileges which used to make the loss of eyesight almost an advantage rather than a

trouble to some of the poorer people.

apponrs from an article in the Philadelphia "Medical Time."" that to the blind was formerly reserved the right of practising as sliam]K>ocrH and needle-pricker?. In order to bo adopts fit thn latter art, which is much in favour in the islands as :i euro for all sorts of maladies, the practitioner must have some tolerable knowledge of anatomy, for otherwise lie may not only do his patient no good, but nl?o cause him such discomfort, as ho runs the needle into his body, as to causa him to rctaliatu with Bonio vigour npon the unskilful puncturer. In order to bucomo qualified it was, there fore, necessary that the blind man should pass a still'examination on thosubject, and also mako proof of .some manual dexterity. If ho successfully passed the first ordeal he acquired the title of shibun, which enabled him to wear two swords, and to carry a white stick with a wooden knob to it, and to be dressed in a particular costume at cere monies. The next grade above him was that of fco-to, or master of music, for the shibun was supposed to devote his spare time betlu-ucn shampooing and the needle prieking to musical studios. If ho was successful in this grade lie might get ad vanced to a higher one still—that of slenjo, which entitled him to a place in the number of illustrious persons. One of these stenjo was nuito a celebrated literary oharicter. Ho had a lar-v library, and wnsso well ac quainted with all the booksiu it, that if two lines-were read outof anyoneof themhccould always give the name ot the author, the volume, and the page. Tho Japanese blind man was also allowed to claim as a right ,is present at every marriage or birth. But he might only "practice" for throe years in any one town, and on tho expiration of that time had to move on, and give place to one of Ilia fellows.—"(Hobe."

A Duel in Virginia.

One of the Combatants Receives a Pro-

bal)ly Fatal Wound.

Thk "Tribune's" Lancaster (Va.) special of September 2Sth says : George Thomas mid Algornoii Ealilehcim fought a duel near hero this evening, at a lonely spot known as Stone Battery. Thomas was armed with a double -barrelled shotgun, loaded with heavy shot, and Battleheim used a seven-shooter Colts's revolver. Bat tlohoim, up to two weeks ago, had beet a constant visitor at Thomas's residence. Humours were circulated that ho was in love with his friend's wife, and Thomas, after carefully watching the couple for several days, ascertained, as ho thought, that a plot was on foot by Battleheim to entice Mrs Thomas away. The next day Thomas's wifo was missing, and was not seen for two days. After the first day Battleheim made his appearance, and Thomas charged him with having enticed his wife away. The other indignantly denied tho charge, and wild lie nioanf tc lwM i-is traducor responsible for his assertions. Thoy parted, and tho next day tho wifo returned to hor husband. Battloheim, however, de manded satisfaction of Thomas, and tho latter agreed to meet him this morning. Their singular choice of weapons was not in strict accordance with the code, but it was held that while Thomas had only two barrels loaded witli shot, they were capable of doing more damage than seven barrels loaded with single balls, and so it proved. At tho first fire, at a distance of thirty paces, Thomas sent a full charge of shot in Battlohoim's face. Tho unfortunate man fell, after firing wildly a second time. He was lingering at death's door at last ac counts. The parties had no soconds,

STAR SATURDAY SUPPLEMENT, DECEMBER 1, 1883.

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