meled by the somewhat mechanical uniformity apt to result from working for external examinations, but sufficiently elastic to allow for different aptitudes in the pupils, and to afford scope for the free initiative of able teachers. It is a gain for the continuity of education when a school-leaving examination can be accepted as giving admission to the university. Such an examination must be conducted under the authority of the university; but there is much to be said in favor of the view that, under proper safeguards, the school-teachers should have a part in the examination; always provided that the ultimate control, and the decision in all cases of doubt, shall rest with the university. A system of school-leaving examinations for this country was earnestly advocated, I believe, by Mr. P. A. Barnett, who has achieved such excellent work for the cause of education in Natal. To discuss the advantages or difficulties of such a proposal, as they at present affect South Africa, would demand knowledge which I do not possess; and I must content myself with the expression of a hope that in days to come—perhaps in a not distant future—it may be found practicable to form such a link between the highest education and the grade next below it.
But the limit of time proper for a chairman's address has now almost been reached. I thank you sincerely for the kindness and patience with which you have heard me. In conclusion, I would only say how entirely I share a conviction which has been expressed by one to whose ability, to whose generous enthusiasm and unflagging efforts the cause of education in this country owes an incalculable debt—I refer to Mr. E. B. Sargant. Like him, I believe that the progress of education in all its grades, from the lowest to the highest, is the agency which, more surely than any other, will conduce to the prosperity and the unity of South Africa. For all workers in that great cause it must be an inspiring thought that they are engaged in promoting the most fundamental and the most far-reaching of national interests. They are endeavoring to secure that the men and women to whom the future of this country belongs shall be equal to their responsibilities and worthy of their inheritance. In that endeavor the sympathies which they carry with them are world-wide. As we come to see, more and more clearly, that the highest education is not only a national but an imperial concern, there is a growing desire for interchange of counsels and for active cooperation between the educational institutions of the colonies and those of the mother country. The development of education in South Africa will command keen attention, and will be followed by earnest good wishes, not only in England, but throughout the British dominions. One of the ideas which are bound up with the history and the traditions of our English public schools and universities is the idea of efficient work for the state. Those institutions have been largely
