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N.B.—lt will be well to practise reading these aloud sometime beforehand, looking at a watch or clock, so as to accustom yourself to reading at the exact rate indicated. The matter to be read is marked off into sections, each of which is to occupy a minute. The Supervisor will perhaps find it advisable to mark it off into smaller sections, each containing the number of words to be read in fifteen seconds, and to read one section in every quarter of a minute. As the candidates hear the passage read only once, the reader's articulation ought to be very clear, and the candidates ought to be so placed as to be able to hear well. 4. Candidates are at liberty to take down one, two, or three passages, as they choose. All the passages required by candidates are to be dictated before any one begins to transcribe ; and there should be as little delay as possible between the readings. 5. Inform candidates that rapidity in transcribing notes into longhand is essential, and note carefully on the transcribed copy the exact time taken in transcription. Candidates must not look at their notes while a passage that does not concern them is being read. 6. Inform them also that the clearness and accuracy of the shorthand notes (which must in every case be sent in attached to the transcript) will be taken account of by the examiner ; and that they must not alter the shorthand notes after the dictation is finished. Passages fob- Dictation. (a.) At the rate of 50 words a minute. Takes 10 minutes. The average schoolboy will work his fingers to the bone if he has reason to think that a bicycle will crown his efforts (says a writer in "Chums"). By wary of experiment a schoolmaster once promised to give a beautiful machine to the boy who proved himself most worthy 1 of | it, and stipulated that all who entered the competition should work hard for a whole week, at the end of which time they would be required to submit an account of the way they had spent their spare hours. Excitement reigned supreme during the next six days, and many 2 a | home was turned topsy-turvy by zealous competitors for the coveted "bike." Every lad chose a different method of showing his ability, and. some of the claims handed in were decidedly original. One boy built a substantial workshop, but discovered when he had finished it that 3 he had forgotten to | leave a space for the window; another actually made a coffin—" Just your size, sir," he told the master naively; while a third constructed a pretty gingerbread model of the village church, the chances of which were slightly spoilt by the marks of some 4 predatory teeth on the spire. The | majority of the lads, however, selected scholastic subjects, and the most marvellous achievement in this line was that of a fifth-form boy, who, without any previous knowledge of shorthand, tackled an old-established stenographic system, and 5 mastered it so thoroughly that at the end of the week he could | write sixty words a minute, and transcribe his notes accurately into the bargain. One musical genius confidently claimed the bicycle because he had learnt the Jew's harp, the tin whistle, and the trombone, and was indignant when the schoolmaster passed him over. The prize was eventually awarded to an 6 athletic | youngster, who, with inexhaustible patience and skill, taught thirty persons to swim within the time stipulated. The verdict in favour of the last-named feat was practically unanimous, and the disappointed competitors, gallantly crushing down their feelings, gave the 7 smiling winner a royal ovation. The youngest boy of an aristocratic but | needy family used to feel dreadfully ashamed when his chums invited him to accompany them on their rides, for he hadn't a bicycle of his own, and his father was utterly unable to provide him with one. 8 Thinking that this state of things had existed long enough, he one day resolved \ to make a bold bid for fortune, and daringly carried his plan into effect; It was the beginning of the cricket season, and the boy, having completely hidden his identity by disguising his features 9 and wearing well-fitting but shabby clothes, went day after day to a popular county ground | and sold penny packets of sweets to the spectators. There was something is his easy, graceful manner and refined accent which attracted general attention to him, and long before the conclusion of the season he had purchased his bicycle and confessed the deception to his parents, 10 who were very angry. | (b.) At the rate of 80 words a minute. Takes 10 minutes. Sir, in moving the second reading of this Bill, I think the difficulty which faces me to-day is to set out a better case than was established last year, for every one must admit that the merits of the Bill last year were argued out in an exceedingly able and exhaustive manner. But, in spite of what appeared to me to be very strong arguments in its favour, the Council 1 last year was not in favour of the Bill. I \ trust, however, that the lapse of time since then, the opportunities for reflection, and the further consideration of so much that has been said in its favour, will induce this Council to treat the Bill more favourably than they did on the previous occasion, especially as it comes up to us again indorsed by the approval of the House of Eepresentatives, and after further revision and further amendment at the hands of the 2 popular Chamber. The Bill as we have | got it now, though altered in certain particulars, virtually is the same Bill as far as principle goes. It also is a Bill which must stand on its own merits. It has got to face the arguments of those who are always averse to taking any step in advance unless supported by the experience of past times and of other countries. A. leap in the ■3 dark is what it is called by its opponents, but leaps in the dark may |be really the rule with all of us in our private life, and must be the rule in the case of any progressive nation or community, whatever part of the world we like to look at, when occasion demands. The few leaps in the dark we have made in the past against the conservative instincts of the day have generally proved successful; but it may be judged to be a fact that the successes of any period are what 4 were | a few centuries, or decades, or even years, before looked upon as absurd and impossible