TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7770, 26 January 1891, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

To-day moat of the primary schools in. and around Christchuroh recommence work. We are all proud of our education system, and doubtless imagine that; there has never been anything to equal it in bygone days, But there is nothing new under the Sun. Professor Sayce in a curiously interesting article, which he has just published in a Home magazine, shows that the people of ancient Babylonia were, comparatively speaking, almost aa far advanced in this matter as we are. A considerable portion of the inhabitants of Babylonia could read - and write, and what is m?re .they had made such progress in the matter of education that they were able to write badly 1 The contract tablets, Professor Sayce tells as, are written in a variety of running hands, some of which are as bad as the worst that passes through the modern post. Every legal document requires the signatures of a number of -wit* nesses, and moat of these were able to write their own names. It was only when they could not do so that the law was satisfied with a simple "nail-mark " in the clay, the namee of the witnesses being appended to the nail-mark by the clerk. He adds &afc women, as well aa men, enjoyed the advantages of education. This is evident from the Babylonian contract-tablets, in which one finds women as well aa men as plaintiffs or defendants in suits, as partners in commercial transactions, and as signing, when need arose, their names. There was none of that jealous exclusion of women in ancient Babylonia, which characterises the East of to-day, and it is probable that boys and girls pursued their studies at the same schools.

Taa Babjloniaa children seem to have began their schooling at as early an age as the little toddlers who will troop into the infant classes to-day. It was as difficult to acquire the cumbersome cuneiform syllabary and the Acoadian language as it is to master the intricacies of English orthography, and, therefore, it was deemed advisable to, begin early. Professor Sayce, however, infers from a fragment of au old Accadian folk-tale which once formed part of * lesson-book for the nursery, that the school age in Babylonia did not commence before five «r«iz. Perhaps when a few more tablets have been deciphered, we find that there were bitter complaints of overpressure in those days. There was no lack, we are assured, of either books or readers. Says the learned Professor:— "So far from being illiterate, the ancient civilised Ea&t was almost as full

of literary activity aafe ? day The ct&M ttbafe hftTebeen passed eM?ifWi J ' of ignorance and prejudice, mn.?tr*B - ux tins h K ht of the fuller ? wenowposaesn. The ■ were surrounded by nations v the enjoyment of ancient abundant stores of books Tv *** m' • reason for believing thit the T U S S? also shared in the culture of * J bors, and the literary activi^ * We know know thY Egj p l« V Babylonians wrote and «J the time of David and SoloL? before; why should not tCfilJ ,1 have done the same? If *ff i-* 8 «* authority of the Old •' is to be overthrown, it mnat Iw j!* > arguments than the unwarranted y I letters weie unkno^*! epoch they claim to riljb* ( 5

Oxford hag lately Wen the t a revolting scandal. The facts J** $ by a Home paper are aa folio WB § " Oa Sunday, November 23rd, fifteen or sixteen undergraduate i*< ¥■ in masquerading c-oetuuy. was Ureeged aa a biahop, &' crozier; there wore a nun Tj fe i K acolytes with consors and jiJJJ kt others in surpl.oca or Rowns. V procession were carried a cut, m aL Jb | whiskey and a waiter with I' with a white cloth. 'ThSSSSSIi went the round «>£ the open oaks anddoora and forciae SS?* *- info the bedrooms ot High mass, asj it \yag called W?*f • celebrated, and the viytiou war* *, 7?t" partake o> the elements (the ibil^P" J biscuit), the sacramental formdf &&-¥fe tratiou being used. The part* thSSM up. Five, however, remained ceedod to a echolai't* rooms. IVytoJ-l?'K him from his bed, at ripped nightshirt, which they torn fowJO*'! carried him into the court, au<l w&'C* there stark naked." ** T*ftfJ High-spirited youug .nen at r> got into trouble before, aud * 9 fijJ2-'j will get into trouble again for '"'\ frolic and mischief. L ~) ever, aclrs of hideous profanity "4 usually to be included among graduates'prauka. It will people to learn that Oxford, v \f been famous as much for ita rdiest " tone aa for its learning, have become the scene of Buchascsay : just reported. It will aafauuigjg. *• body to learu that the men vho fcjjZ \ such disgrace upon the URiveretofcy '"? supporters, if not sympathise, ' walls. It appears that the victims of'thai ' rage, acting on the advico of som?c{{!| leaders or college opiniqn, authorities and gave up thanemgjcfgt aggressors. The tloas, after Uftßrij(||j case, decided that the charge of b!ftt&b» was not proven on evidenpa satisfy a court of law, and as, if i would have entailed the concerned, they gave tho & benefit of tho doubt. Oα the otitfij fe counts, the forcible entrance isita m\ rooms and the brutal outiage two men were sent down for eoaiim were rusticated, and the others *s»?f for one or two terms. One woa!4 tej thought that if the aotlqn of gj ■ dons had been <%\ & it would have been Qα tbs $$$ I of being too lenient. So f<p this being the case, we are $k ', public opinion of the majp?% fe College declared itself, if nob ea fbe|i of the aggreseqra, at anyrata agstfssife > informers, and still more agwusj; I who had counselled them to Jfif fc? i> f formation. The expelled mm vimm t> ducted in triumph to the ,| vote of censure was passed by esrafytiii , t of the 105 undergraduates oa thm # > had backedup the victims. Tbi*Jots«S ;' accompanied by threats ot veigeanw, for a week theCollegewas elff. The minority lived in nigatly Sff? «!•■ violence, and for many nights watch and provided thenwek?? # pistols, sword-sticks, and hlujgeow. "to . whole affair shows the tone <tfth9#s>! graduates and the povrer d <ji|S#«»| possessed by the authorities} h> ft a^; unfavourable light. {

A " siLVJBB boom " ia reported b b»toa& ]: ing out in Tasmania, and there, J»l4N*[, quite a flutter in TaamaniiWi stocks« & | Melbourne Stock Ifcohfinge. BJjf##te j men have also inude tbeic eppew*Bs & i the street 3of Sydney—Bo tta ,&&j Telegraph informs us—witU p# [ specimens ia their pockets, c$ W| strength of which they •fbf-4»j "syndicate chares" in mineral jet*} each one of which is traversed dis|ss by numerous silver lodes, all of pwdiffe* • richness. Our friepd, the Dedlq T&F& shakes its head inorednloaeiyV BJ , possible, of couree, that I . to become tho site of a dozen t Our contempdrary, however, $$*" [ those wicked Melbourne mea wht»«s® fl | have a finger In the pie. It cay* J* 1 * i "It is a matter of some the contagion of the present »*•* been transmitted from '-fc** B ®*! Victoria, or from VJctori* teTl""*J Melbourne is a city which qw**"! boom of some kind, and is played ouc in one direction «•»•£: generally found to start »»•*£, For some time past, since tie of silver at Mount '2ea®* bourne mining men h&j* BS «jJ eye upon the sleepy, hltit «JJ, colony across the Straits as where under favorable early experiences of Broken lm «yV Whether they the time has now come for «ne«***|, grand flare-up may or n»T **,J«B6. case. It may be that the !»!«£,. vered richness of the fielde has caused a genuine i»8«*«",» - toriaw.capital, or it may be twjrjj, ment is on foot for gettifig *f^, capital out at a swinging pw» ' daring coup." ■• e# ■ Our contemporary coonaels ite^^ r virtuoua and unsnepecting m^? 88 be led away. Before taTf*to|*Jgf manian Venturee, it l& *Jr j sure that the silver baa AcfcW : ' ; discovered, and ia not merely ; This is very sound and jnoioiotts ;