E.—U.

8. Write a short essay on one of the following subjects : — The utility of athletic sports. The pleasures of variety. [Suggestions : Fashions in dress, change of scenery, different kinds of reading.] Procrastination is the thief of time.

Part of a Paper on English Grammar arid Composition. — For Class E, and for Junior Civil Service. Time allowed : 3 hours. The Supervisor will be so good as to read through and then sloioly dictate the following words and sentences, afterwards reading the. whole of them again to afford opportunity for correction : — Insurrection, sacrilege, ruefully, crescent, spherical, balloon, gypsies, mosquito, avaricious, tautology, plausible, rescinded, guarantee, menagerie. Their Excellencies the Governors were eminent for many excellences of character. The omission of this indispensable precaution was an indefensible piece of negligence. My mischievous nephew was guilty of wilful roguery. The greengrocer was selling celery, lettuce, and asparagus. The officiating clergyman proclaimed the banns of marriage, but the tyrannical guardian withheld his consent. The mower leisurely wields his scythe.

English. — For Senior Civil Service. Time allowed : 3 hoars. Papee No. 1. —Composition and Precis. (All the Questions are to be attempted.) 1. Write a short essay on Shelley's art and chief literary characteristics: and compare his style and poetry with those of his contemporaries, and especially with those of Keats, Byron, and Wordsworth. 2. Give, in the form of a letter to a friend, an account of any prose work you have recently read. 3. Make an abstract of the accompanying correspondence. The abstract should contain the date of each letter, the name of its writer and of its receiver, and the subject of it in as few words as possible. 4. Tell briefly and clearly the facts of the correspondence in narrative form. [N.B. — NoprScis exercise can be considered good which is-not brief and precise, and put so as to catch the eye readily. Candidates are recommended to read the whole correspondence carefully before beginning to write, and to include in their precis exercises only such facts and statements as are essential.]

[CORRESPONDENCE FOR PBECIS.j NEW GUINEA AND NEW HEBEIDEB (Part of Correspondence respecting proposed Annexation of). No. 1. The Secretary of State for the Colonies to His Excellency the Goveenoe. My Lord,— Downing Street, 9th May, 1884. Her Majesty's Government have not lost sight of the resolutions adopted by the Convention of representatives of the Australasian Colonies at Sydney in December last, and have considered the provisions of the draft Bill for constituting a Federal Council which the representatives pledged themselves to submit to the Legislatures of their respective colonies. I have been led to believe that addresses in favour of this Bill would be adopted by the Colonial Legislatures in time to enable Her Majesty's Government to introduce the measure during the present session of Parliament with a good prospect of its being passed ; but the necessary action does not appear to have been yet taken in any colony. As, therefore, the probability of legislation during this year is diminishing, it appears desirable to consider the position of Her Majesty's Government and of the Colonial Governments in regard to the proposals of the Convention. 2. I had explained in my despatch of 11th July, 1883, to the Administrator of the Government of Queensland, which was before the Convention, that, in order to place Her Majesty's Government in a position to consider proposals for the protection or government of New Guinea or other places in the Western Pacific Ocean, it was desirable for the Australian Colonies to combine together effectively, and provide the cost of carrying out any policy which it might be decided to adopt, and that in the meantime Her Majesty's Government must continue to decline proposals for large annexations of territory adjacent to Australia, adding that, if a reasonable annual sum were provided by the colonies, Her Majesty's Government would be prepared to strengthen the naval force on the Australian Station, and make the High Commissionership more effective. 3. The Convention does not appear to have taken this part of my despatch into consideration ; but it agreed that the Governments represented at it should recommend their respective Legislatures to make permanent provision for the cost of the policy advocated, viz.,— (1.) To check, in whatever manner might be deemed wisest and most effectual, the further acquisition of dominion in the Pacific south of the equator by any foreign Power; (2.) To secure the incorporation with the British Empire of so much of New Guinea and the small islands adjacent thereto as is not claimed by the Government of the Netherlands; and (3.) To acquire, if possible, the control of the New Hebrides in the interests of Australasia.

10