E.—B.

1892. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: THE AUCKLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE. [In Continuation of E.-8, 1891.]

Presented in pursuance of Section 25 of " The Auckland University College Act, 1882."

The Chairman to the Hon. the Minister of Education. Sir, — University College, Auckland, 12th April, 1892. In pursuance of "The Auckland University College Act, 1882," I have the honour to forward the following report for the year 1891. 1. In the year 1891 two vacancies in the Council of this College were caused by death. The Eev. Alexander Eeid, Principal of Wesley College, at Three Kings, near Auckland, who died on the 25th August, had been an assiduous and highly-esteemed member of the Council during a period of eight years. The death of the Hon. Sir Frederick Whitaker, K.C.M.G., which occurred on the 4th December, removed a most distinguished colonist who was one of the founders of this College. He was Premier of New Zealand when " The Auckland University College Act, 1882," which instituted the College, was passed, and during the last five years of his life he rendered valuable services as a member of the Council, having been unanimously elected thereto, and re-elected, by the constituent members of the colonial Parliament. 2. The three members of the College Council who retired by reason of effluxion of time on the 21st of May, the anniversary of the opening of the College, were the following : The Eev. A. Eeid, appointed by His Excellency the Governor in Council; Mr. Edwin Hesketh, elected by the constituent members of the Legislative Council and House of Eepresentatives; and the Hon. Daniel Pollen, M.L.C., graduates' member. Of these the first two named consented to continue in the Council, and: were respectively reappointed and re-elected. Mr. Hesketh has been a member of the Council since the foundation of the College, and on each occasion, his election has been unanimous. Dr. Pollen expressed his purpose of retiring, and in his place Dr. Edward Duncan Mackellar, M.D., was elected. The Eev. Joseph Henry Simmonds, who was temporarily put in charge of Wesley College, on the death of Mr. Eeid, and who. was expected to be permanently made Principal, was appointed to the College Council in succession to Mr. Eeid. The Mayoralty of Mr. John Henry Upton having terminated, Mr. William Crowther became Mayor of Auckland, and is thereby ex. officio a member of the Council. Gn the death of Sir Frederick Whitaker, Mr. Upton was elected to succeed him. Sir George Maurice O'Eorke, 8.A., and the Hon. Colonel Theodore Minet Haultain were respectively re-elected to be Chairman and Vice-chairman of the Council. 3. To the vacant Professorship of Classics and English, Mr. Charles Alexander Maclean Pond, M.A., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, has been appointed. Mr. Pond had gained distinctions of the highest order in the Universities of Cambridge and London. In giving instructions for making a selection, the Council directed that the gentleman to be appointed should not only possess the other qualifications requisite for a professorial chair, but should also have had experience as a teacher in some educational establishment of repute. In the selection of Professor Pond these instructions were amply fulfilled: during a period of three years he had taught classics and English with marked success and acceptance in Liverpool College. The selection of Professor Pond was made by Sir Francis Dillon Bell, K.C.M.G., at that time Agent-General for New Zealand, assisted by Dr. Percival, the Headmaster of Bugby. 4. The Auckland University College is under a deep obligation to Sir Francis Dillon Bell for his enlightened and'earnest exertions from time to time in securing the selection for the professorial chairs of gentlemen highly accredited and qualified. The Government of New Zealand on each occasion has conferred an important favour by giving the requisite instructions to the AgentGeneral. 5. The , teaching-staff comprises, as before, the following: four Professors—viz. (1) of Classics and English, (2) of Mathematics, (3) of Experimental Physics and Chemistry, (4) of Biology and Geology ; a Lecturer on Music ; and an Instructor in Drawing. 6. In,the year 1891 the degree of LL.B. in the University of New Zealand was awarded to a gentleman who had been a student of this College; and the degree of B.A. to five of the students— viz., three male and two female. 7. The Exhibition, 1851, Science Scholarship, of the annual value of £150 for two years or for three, allotted by Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, to be competed for in New Zealand, the competition for which was open to all graduates of the University of New Zealand who had obtained honours in chemistry, physical science, or mathematics and mathematical physics in the previous four years, has been awarded to Mr. David Hamilton Jackson, a graduate of this Gollege.