A.—No. 3,

58

RELIGIOUS, CHARITABLE, AND

this paper are the printed forms of terms of letting supplied to applicants for leases of the unlet reserves. The Rev. Mr. Wilson, being duly sworn, states: My name is James Wilson. lam a clergyman of the United Church of England and Ireland. I reside at Riverton, near Christchurch, and am a Fellow and Bursar of Christ's College at Christchurch. I produce a copy of the Christ's College Regulations. It shows the administration of the revenues derived from the Somes' Estate and other scholarship endowments, together with the system of education which the governing body of the College are endeavouring to work out. The annual rents derived from the general College Estate are applicable to all purposes connected with the foundation of the College, and principally at present applied in support of the Grammar School. In the earlier period we found that there were no students prepared to enter upon an advanced collegiate course, and we limited the objects of our expenditure principally to the maintenance of the Grammar School. About or near 100 boys attend. We are now beginning to prepare for a more advanced kind of education, and trying to induce a demand for it, of which there is some prospect, and there are various indications that the attempt will probably be successful. It is proposed to deliver lectures in Divinity and Modern History, and it is hoped to establish lectures in Chemistry in the present year. For the latter object, we have lately erected a laboratory. With respect to the fund raised from the sale of estates belonging to the Church Property Trustees for the erection of parsonages, the system pursued has been generally to offer a certain amount towards the cost of erecting the parsonage in any particular locality, conditional upon the inhabitants of the locality benefited raising a certain proportionate sum, —about fifty per cent, of the trustees' contribution towards this cost. By these means a considerable number of parsonages have been erected in different parts of the country. In the afternoon of Wednesday, the 19th January, the Commissioner visited the Catholic institutions on the 3 acres mentioned in the evidence of Mr. Blakiston. Went into the church, which is neat and interesting. The buildings about appear to be in good repair and well maintained ; the land is enclosed with a live fence. The garden is well cultivated and abundantly stocked with fruit and other trees. The whole group of buildings, as well as the grounds, reflect credit upon those who have had the direction. Having perused the papers referred to in the evidence of the Rev. James West Stack (ante, p. 57), and forwarded herewith, I recommend them to the careful perusal of the Commissioners, as throwing light upon a similar state of things connected with Maori life and prospects which has been observed in the North Island, and upon which a variety of opinions have been expressed. At the conclusion of these sittings in Christchurch, the Commissioner addressed a letter to the Superintendent of Canterbury, thanking His Honor and the Provincial Officers acting under his directions, for their courteous kindness and great assistance rendered during the progress of the work, and also expressing admiration of the liberal spirit, skill, and judgment to which the inhabitants and public institutions' of the Province are indebted for the many and great public improvements effected within the last few years within the City of Christchurch and its neighbourhood. Robert Hart.

PAPERS AND DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THE FOREGOING EVIDENCE. A. —Report on the Grammar Schools in the Province of Canterbury. Sir, — Board of Education, Christchurch, 31st March, 1869. In accordance with the request contained in your letter of the 23rd of January, I have the honor to lay before you all obtainable information with regard to the Grammar Schools in this Province, specifying their constitution, the rules and regulations in force in them, and further mentioning the provision which it is contemplated should be made for future instruction in the higher branches of education. 1 must state my regret that I have been unable to afford these particulars at an earlier date. Considerable delay, however, occurred in obtaining the requisite information from the authorities of the superior schools. The superior schools in receipt of Government aid are three in number, namely, the Christ's College Grammar School, the High School, Christchurch, and the High School, Lyttelton. By the 55th clause of " The Education Ordinance, 1864," the provisions of that Ordinance, in accordance with which the ordinary schools are regulated, do not apply to the superior schools. During the last session of the Provincial Council a sum of £300 was voted for their maintenance during the year ending 31st December, 1869, and a further sum of £150 was placed on the Supplemental Estimates for the same purpose, under the following resolution: —" That His Honor the Superintendent be respectfully requested to place upon the Supplementary Estimates the sum of £150 in aid of superior schools, provided always that it shall be lawful for the Board of Education to cause such schools to be inspected in such manner, at such times, and by such person or persons, as it shall think fit." Christ's College Grammar School. This is a school in connection, as its name imports, with Christ's College. Both were founded by the Canterbury Association out of that part of tho proceeds of the land fund which, under the original scheme, was appropriated to religious and educational purposes for the Church of England. A fund formed of the proceeds of these endowments, together with the fees of the pupils and the Government grant, provides for the payment of the masters and other expenses of the institution. In addition to these revenues, however, there are special foundations for the maintenance of professorships of Divinity and Modern History, and also for the maintenance of scholarships.