New Zealand Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1874.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4237, 19 October 1874, Page 2

New Zealand Times. MONDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1874.

Weight is attached, naturally, to the words of a speaker who is thoroughly master of his subject, and who treats upon it, for the last time, to an appreciative audience. This was the case on Saturday, when His Excellency the Governor, in a terse address, told the company assembled at the College his opinion of the wise forethought exhibited in the erection of such a building, the objects which should be sought in the education imparted at it, and the design which would be ever present in the minds of the governors. His remarks had a peculiar significance because, although they came from him as a parting gift to a people whose efforts and progress ho had closely watched and been associated with, they also served to remind that it was not the Governor of the colony only, amongst those present, who might be passing from his office. His Honor the Superintendent, under whose rule the College was erected, and many useful works in connection with it undertaken, might, in the inexorable course of events, remain in office for a not very much longer period. As His Excellency remarked, if it were to him a source of pleasure that one closing scene in his relations with this colony was the present, not less would it ho so to the Superintendent, whilst looking back upon his honorable and useful career, to remember that one of his last official acts was that of assisting at a fete whereby the opening of the Wellington College was inaugurated. His Excellency spoke in the noble lecture-room of the College, and it must have been scarcely possible for his hearers, whilst they listened to the words in which ho told of the important influence which the spread of education must have on the well-being and progress of a young and prosperous colony, not to call to mind the fact that, in the place in which they were sitting, the characters of some of the future statesmen of New Zealand might bo moulded. It would be difficult for His Excellency, or indeed for any one, to tell an audience something that is new respecting the value of education. And yet, to judge from the number of parents who allow their children to grow up without sending them to school, there must be a good many people in the world whoso ideas on the subject are of the very vaguest description. They, however, were not likely to be represented at the banquet held on Saturday. It may be taken for granted that every person in the room was convinced that a really good education, let alone being a blessing, is a necessity. This is a branch of the subject that may very well be expatiated upon. Out of all the discussions that have taken place on the subject, both in England and the colonies, there has been brought forth the idea that a mere knowledge of “the three R’s,” is not sufficient. There always have been, and doubtless always will be, as long as the world lasts, people who, although they receive but a mere substratum of education, do manage to build a very superior edifice upon it; but the idea does not prevail now, and never will do so again, that the very highest form of education known should not be in the reach of all young people, without reference to the wealth of their parents. There is, as His Excellency remarked, the education of the nursery. From this we look, and justly, for much. But, especially in countries where the government practically rests with the majority of the people, it becomes a duty that they should be specially trained to exercise the power that is placed in their hands. If this be done, other advantages follow in its wake. We do not like the idea that the sons and daughters of persons who prefer to stay at home rather than emigrate to the colonies should receive a better education than the young colonists of this day. When these lattei meet the former, at the bar, in the pulpit, or as members of “the “ honorable profession of schoolmasters,” we like to see them on terms of equality. In this respect we have not, hitherto, had much reason to complain. Young men educated in the best establishments in Great Britain have competed with others educated here, and the latter have held their own very creditably. But because we have done well so far is no reason why we should stay our hands. Life is a constant race and struggle, and the Wellington College will be a training ground in which the rising generation of New Zealand will learn their powers, and how to make the best use of them.

A significance of the event of Safcurday consisted in tlie fact, evidently present to the mind of His Excellency, and to those of many persons present, that the actual amount of learning acquired by the pupils at the College only partially represents the benefit this ■will be to the colony. People in the possession of knowledge are not in the habit of either bottling it up or burying it. They distribute it freely to all who like to partake of it. The intelligence of one man thus serves to make that of many others ; and the schoolmaster, from this cause, goes abroad in the community. The College is for this, and for other reasons, a nursery for literature. The masters of it received their training at establishments of a very similar nature. On the principle that like follows like, the conclusion may very fairly bo drawn that they will teach some boys who will be as capable as themselves to train up the future youth of Now Zealand in the paths of learning. The supply of able schoolmasters is, all over the world, inadequate to the demand. The thanks of the public are, therefore, as His Excellency said, due to the Governors of the College for the noble building, so excellently appointed, that has been provided for the benefit of the young of this rising community.