1. Exercises designed to test handwriting and orthography. 2. Arithmetic, up to and inclusive of vulgar and decimal fractions. 3. Précis. 4. Exercises in English composition, designed to test purity and accuracy of style. 5. History. 6. Geography. 7. Latin. 8. French, or one other modern foreign language. SIR, Mr. Maitland to Mr. Chalk. Civil Service Commission, 31st January 1857. I AM directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th instant, and to state that they will regulate such examinations as may be conducted under their directions, in accordance with the scheme therewith enclosed, which appears to them peculiarly well adapted for securing the services of eligible candidates. I have, &c. SIR, EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. Mr. Lingen to Mr. Maitland. Education Department, 7th January 1857. THE Lord President has six appointments to clerkships of the third class in this department at his disposal. The greater part, probably the whole number, of these appointments will be given to successful competitors in an examination of such a character as that described in my letter of 26th May last. The number of candidates will, probably, not be more than 30, nor less than 20. On the present occasion it may be assumed that the competition will not be capable of being decided by a single examination. (Cf: letters from your Board to the Committee of Council, dated 14th June 1856, and 20th November 1855.)* * Mr. Maitland to Mr. Lingen. Civil Service Commission, 20th November 1855. SIR, I AM directed by the Civil Service Commisioners to communicate to you, for the information of the Lord President, the results of the examination of candidates for junior situations in the department of the Committee of Privy Council for Education, conducted under the direction of the Commissioners during the week which ended on Saturday the 17th inst. In compliance with the wish expressed by the Lord President, and communicated to this department in your letter of the 2nd instant, the two earlier days of the week (Monday and Tuesday) were occupied with a pass examination, Friday and Saturday being reserved for the final and competing examination. On the first morning of examination, the following candidates (31 in all) presented themselves: The nine candidates whose names are distinguished by asterisks are mentioned in your communication of the 2nd instant as having been already for longer or shorter periods employed in the department. Of those who originally appeared, the eight under-mentioned were in the course of Monday excluded by the Civil Service Commissioners from further competition, on the ground of deficiency in handwriting and orthography Provision should be made, therefore, for such an examination as was held in November 1855, although, at the same time, the Lord President does not wish to exclude the alternative of terminating the examination sooner, if, in the first part of it, the required number of candidates can be clearly designated by merit above the rest. The Lord President continues to wish that the second examination be only resorted to for the purpose of settling claims which the first may leave fairly doubtful. If, however, a second examination be resorted to at all, it is not his Lordship's wish that any recommendations should be made upon the first examination only, but that all the candidates not rejected on the first examination should be included in the second, and the final recommendations made upon the joint value of both examinations, greater weight being always given (cæteris paribus) to the first. I am to beg that you will move the Commissioners to name a day, not earlier than Tuesday the 20th, for the commencement of the pro The ten following were excluded on Wednesday, as not having passed a satisfactory examination in arithmetic The three following were excluded on Thursday, for failures in orthography or in English composition The number of candidates permitted to enter the the final and competing examination on Friday and Saturday was thus reduced to ten, whose names will be found in the tabular statement which I enclose. From the first of these tabular statements (Table A.) you will perceive the maximum number of marks assigned to each subject, and the number actually given to each candidate. The second tabular statement (Table B.) shows the result of each examination taken separately, and those of the two combined. The Civil Service Commissioners have further to state, for the information of the Lord President, that highly creditable proficiency was exhibited by the following candidates in the subjects set opposite to their respective names: Mr. Hennessy. Mr. Nelmes.. Mr. Simmonds. Mr. Shirlaw.. .History and English composition. . Arithmetic. Geometry and geography. To this it should be added that Mr. Simmonds is entitled to commendation as having shown a very accurate knowledge of facts, and that Mr. Hennessy's answers to historical questions have evinced more than ordinary discrimination and intelligence. I am, in conclusion, to acquaint you that as soon as the Lord President shall have been pleased to select from the ten candidates admitted to the competing examination those whom he may deem best qualified for junior situations, the Civil Service Commissioners will be prepared on being informed of his decision, on the production of proper evidence as to age, health, and character in those cases in which such evidence has not yet been furnished, to grant the certificates required. SIR, Mr. Maitland to Mr. Lingen. I have, &c. Civil Service Commission, I AM directed by the Civil Service Commissioners to announce to you, for the information of the Lord President, the result of the examination of candidates nominated to compete for the junior situation of supplementary clerk in the department of the Committee of Privy Council on Education recently held at this office, in compliance with his Lordship's request, communicated in your letter of the 26th ult. On the first morning of examination (Tuesday, the 10th instant) the following candidates (5) presented themselves—. The examination to which the candidates have on this occasion been subjected has been confined to the subjects which constituted the first portion of the examination held in November last, and from the tabular statement which I enclose it will be seen that Mr. Bernard has shown a very decided superiority over the other competitors. He has, moreover, acquitted himself in such a manner as to leave no doubt of his merit within the limits of his trial, and under these circumstances the Commissioners presume that they will be acting in accordance with the wishes of the Lord President, as conveyed to them in your letter, by abstaining from directing a second examination in more advanced subjects. They will be prepared to grant to Mr. Bernard their certificate of qualification if it should be his Lordship's pleasure to nominate him to the vacant situation. I have, &c. posed examination, and that, relative thereto, you will furnish me with any forms which the Commissioners may wish to be sent to the candidates, and that you will inform me on what days, and between what hours, such of them as may be able to give previous personal attendance should wait upon the Commissioners. I beg leave to request as early an answer as you can conveniently return, and have the honour to be, Yours, &c. SIR, Mr. Lingen to Mr. Maitland. Education Department, 9th February 1857. THE Lord President, referring to the letter which his Lordship caused to be addressed to the Civil Service Commissioners on the 9th July 1855, directs me to state, for the information of the Commissioners, that some additions are about to be made to the staff of Inspectors of Schools, and that the gentlemen whose names the Committee of Council have submitted, or propose to submit to Her Majesty, for these appointments, come within the category of officers whom it is intended, in ordinary cases, to exempt from being examined by your Commission as to their intellectual acquirements and abilities. In communicating to the Commissioners the names of the gentlemen, according to the intimation conveyed in the letter of 9th July 1855, before referred to, the Lord President will mention the University attainments or other equivalent proof of fitness, on the ground of which his Lordship proposes to exempt the nominee from that kind of examination. With regard to the question of age, the Lord President will be guided generally by the recommendation contained in the printed report upon this department, dated 6th August 1853, to the effect that "future appointments to the office of Inspector should be made "from among young men taken at their entrance into life, &c." In filling up vacancies in the present staff, there will be no difficulty in adopting this recommendation, but in new appointments to increase the staff it is not found practicable always to limit the selection to young men. For this reason, the Lord President does not propose to ask the Commissioners to raise any question as to age in the case of nominees to inspectorships. Considering also the social position of the gentlemen usually selected for these appointments, either as graduates at the Universities, or as engaged in some conspicuous profession or employment, the Lord President does not consider it advisable that the Commissioners should require from them any certificate as to their moral character. His Lordship is of opinion, however, that the requirement of a certificate as to health and physical powers, such as the experience of the Commissioners may have suggested in other appointments, should be strictly enforced in every case. His Lordship finds, from the experience of the department, that this requirement is especially called for in the case of the school inspectors, whose daily occupation is of a nature to be very trying to many constitutions, subjecting them to alternations of heat and cold, from the crowded schoolroom to the outer air, and to constant exposure to bad weather in travelling through their districts. In pursuance of the foregoing observations, the Lord President directs me to communicate to the Commissioners the name of the Rev. M.A., Fellow of College, Cambridge, who has been appointed to the office of Assistant Inspector of Schools connected with the Church of England. Mr. took a wrangler's degree in mathematics, and a first class in classics in the year 1852. I have, &c. Mr. Lingen to Mr. Maitland. Education Department, 4th August 1857. SIR, I AM directed to request that you will inform the Commissioners that the Lord President wishes a competitive examination for appointments to assistant clerkships of the third class in this department, to be held on Tuesday the 25th instant. As many as thirty or forty candidates may possibly attend. I have the honour to enclose a list containing the names and addresses of the candidates already known, and copies of two circulars which have been addressed either to these same candidates or to gentlemen by whom the Lord President wishes other candidates to be recommended. Any future names which may have to be added will be communicated to the Commissioners as soon as they are ascertained. The candidates named in the list herewith are instructed to expect an immediate communication from your office. Enclosure. I have, &c. SIR, Education Department, Downing Street, S. W., I AM directed by the Lord President of the Council to inquire whether under the following circumstances, and subject to the following conditions, you are disposed to recommend to his Lordship a candidate, or not more than candidates, as competitors in an examination to be held on the 25th instant for assistant clerkships of the third class in this department. The Lord President has, at present, at his disposal six of these clerkships, but no greater number will be filled up than corresponds to the number of candidates who may prove themselves unquestionably eligible as well as superior to other competitors. The emoluments and prospects, as well as the necessary qualifications, of a clerk may be understood from the following particulars: A. His handwriting must be clear, rapid, neat, and of that even stroke which allows a legible copy to be taken by pressing. B. He must be able to make abstracts or dockets of correspondence, and to write in good grammatical English either from rough notes or on a given subject. C. He must be an expert arithmetician, able to digest returns (under guidance) into summaries, and to calculate per-centages. D. He must understand the principles and practice of book-keeping. Failure in any one of the subject marked A. B. or C. is absolutely fatal. In addition to the subjects just named, candidates will be allowed to name for themselves one or more subjects to the Civil Service Commissioners in which they wish to be examined, with a view to exhibit proof of their industry and intelligence. In this voluntary part of the examination, no marks (of a character beneficial to the candidate) will be given for any exercises which do not exhibit respectable proficiency, and very much higher marks will be given for excellence in one subject than for mediócrity in several. Candidates who may have made language, mathematics, natural science, geography, or modern history their especial study will thus have an opportunity of proving their powers. Book-keeping, as a subject of examination, holds an intermediate place between the indispensable and the voluntary subjects. Failure in it will not ipso facto exclude, but an intelligent acquaintance with the principles and practice of it will be held to mark special aptitude as well as general eligibility for appointment. In the voluntary subjects, no preference will be given to one subject over another. Cateris paribus, the greater weight will always be given to superiority in the indispensable subjects. The Lord President would be glad if among the there were young men, whom, after a careful inquiry and selection, you could confidently recommend as candidates; but, for the sake of saving disappointment to your nominees and needless labour to the Civil Service Commissioners, his Lordship relies upon your not putting forward any candidate who does not appear to you to have a reasonable prospect of success. The names of any candidates whom you may recommend will be at once communicated to the Civil Service Commissioners, from whose office the candidates will (by letter) receive instructions what steps to take in order to present themselves for examination. You will be good enough, therefore, to be careful to give me the addresses as well as the names of your nominees. Candidates whether they succeed or fail, must bear all expenses incurred by them in attending the examinations. All appointments are made upon probation, which is not merely nominal, but is real and strict, extending over a period of twelve months, and embracing all the qualifications of a clerk, moral, mental, and physical. The examination, beginning on Tuesday the 25th instant, will probably end on Friday; but candidates should arrange for attendance to the end of Saturday, I shall be obliged to you, if you will let me know at your earliest convenience the name and address of any candidate or candidates whom you may wish to recommend. I have, &c. SIR, Mr. EMIGRATION OFFICE. Mr. Maitland to Mr. Walcott. Civil Service Commission, 21st January 1858. In reply to your letter of yesterday's date, acquainting me with present age, I am directed to request that you will convey to the Emigration Commissioners the thanks of the Civil Service Commissioners for the information which has been given, and that you will at the same time ascertain whether there is any objection to a general extension of the limits of age to 30, in the case of candidates who having entered the public service under 25 have since served continuously. From your letter of 1st August 1855, it is inferred that the Emigration Commissioners approve of some regulation of the kind, and the form suggested is that which has been adopted by other offices. In order that unnecessary delay may be avoided, an order for the examination of Mr. is enclosed. I have, &c. L |