pensing with all this, does the
main subject receive proper attention.

If the properly literary part of the present examinations were much of
a reality, there would be a nice discussion as to the amount of literary
tact that could be imparted in connection with a foreign language, as
translated or translatable. But I have made an ample concession, when I
propose that the trial should be made of examining in literature in this
fashion; and I do not see any difficulty beyond the initial repugnance
of the professors of languages to be employed in this task, and the
fear, on the part of candidates, that, undue stress might be placed on
points that need a knowledge of originals.

* * * * *

I will conclude with a remark on the apparent tendency of the wide
options in the Commissioners' scheme. No one subject is obligatory; and
the choice is so wide that by a very narrow range of acquirements a man
may sometimes succeed. No doubt, as a rule, it requires a considerable
mixture of subjects: both sciences and literature have to be included.
But I find the case of a man entering the Indian Service by force of
Languages alone, which I cannot but think a miscarriage. Then the very
high marks assigned to Mathematics allow a man to win with no other
science, and no other culture, but a middling examination in English.
To those that think so highly of foreign languages, this must seem a much
greater anomaly than it does to me. I would prefer, however, that such a
candidate had traversed a wider field of science, instead of excelling
in high mathematics alone.

There are, I should say, _three_ great regions of study that should be
fairly represented by every successful candidate. The first is the
Sciences as a whole, in the form and order that I have suggested. The
second is English Composition, in which successful men in the Indian
competition sometimes show a cipher. The third is what I may call
loosely the Humanities, meaning the department of institutions and
history, with perhaps literature: to be computed in any or all of the
regions of ancient and modern history. In every one of these three
departments, I would fix a minimum, below which the candidate must not
fall.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 6: _The Civil Service Examination Scheme, considered with
reference (1) to Sciences, and (2) to Languages_. A paper read before
the Educational Section of the Social Science Association, at the
meeting in