fare of teachers and scholars. It is therefore satisfactory to find that, on the whole, the buildings of the Burgh and Public Schools are commodious and suitable.

One or two peculiarities they have in common. 1. Very few of them are surrounded by play-grounds suitable for cricket or other games. They mostly possess a gravel yard, in which the scholars run about in the intervals of play, and covered sheds in which they may shelter themselves in wet weather. This want of play-grounds is connected, no doubt, with the fact of their being exclusively day-schools. The relation of the scholars to the schools, to the teachers, to one another, is altogether different from that of boarders. The schools are places for work, and for work alone. When that is done, boys and masters separate, and the boys, as a rule, are expected to leave the school grounds, and indulge in no recreation that may cause damage to the buildings. The short intervals that they have for play in the course of the regular school hours are insufficient for any settled games. The boys themselves are not united together in the free companionship of boarding-schools, but have separate homes, and objects of interest that draw them different ways. Within comparatively recent times, however, some of the more important Burgh schools, following the lead of the Edinburgh Academy, have provided fields as playgrounds for their schools, at a convenient distance from the school. Such appliances however are, after all, luxuries, rather than necessities in the case of day schools. As a matter of fact, also, there is no evil result from their absence. There is no want of physical life or energy or health apparently in the youth attending the Burgh schools, and, although we should like to see a larger and a freer space for games than most of them possess, their non-existence saves the boys from expenses which seem inseparable from amusements conducted as they now are, and from an excessive and absorbing interest in matters of an inferior and secondary moment to the real business of education.

2. A second point to be noticed is this. Scarcely any of the schools possess libraries. This is due, however, to the want of funds and endowments. Edinburgh High School is an exception, in this respect, to the general rule. Its library was founded in 1658, on the recommendation of the head master. The first supply of books was given by the teachers, and by voluntary contributions from the citizens and pupils of the school, For many years it has been supported out of a moiety of the matriculation fees. "It includes," says Dr. Steven, in his History of the High School," the best Greek and Latin lexicons, the best editions of the classics, several encyclopædias, and a valuable collection of antiquarian, historical, and geographical authors." Its use, till a comparatively recent date, was confined to the masters and boys of the higher classes, but it is now open to all the pupils. It contains nearly 7,000 volumes. The Edinburgh Academy also possesses a school library of moderate dimensions. Not many years ago, Glasgow High School possessed a small school library, of which the janitor was the guardian, but at present it does not seem to

be in existence, or at least in operation. Aberdeen has nominally a library, but there are very few books in it. And the almost invariable answer to our inquiries was, that the "pupils had access to no school library." After all, however, comparatively few boys of the age of those at Grammar schools, will be found to take advantage of a library.

For the sake of poorer students, however, who can not afford expensive dictionaries and books of reference, a well-chosen library of moderate size would be a valuable addition.

The Report under the general head of Buildings concludes:

1. In their general condition 34-5 per cent. are good; 25.5 per cent. are fair; 30.9 per cent. are indifferent; and 91 per cent. are bad.

2. The playgrounds are sufficient for healthful exercise, but not adapted for games, either by their size or their character.

3. The offices and outhouses are almost, without exception bad.

4. The repairs on the buildings are executed mostly in an econimical, and sometimes in an illiberal, spirit.

5. The obligation to maintain the buildings is almost always acknowledged and acted on by the authorities.

6. The accommodation is sufficient for all who choose to attend.

While the

actual attendance in 1866 was 12,145 pupils, there was accommodation for 28,099.

FINANCIAL CONDITION.

The Secondary schools of Scotland derive their support from: 1. Endowments. 2. Annual grants made by Town-Councils and others. 3. Bursaries. 4. Fees and Cost of Education. 5. Emoluments of Masters. (1.) Endowments.-Under the head of endowments is indicated the mortifications and bequests applicable to the teacher for school purposes generally, and not the bursaries enjoyed by the scholars. These are not large, except in five instances, and the total annual income does not exceed $13,000. The five largest endowments are as follows:

Madras College was founded in the year 1831, when a sum of £50,000 was handed over by Dr. Andrew Bell to the Town-Council of St. Andrews, on certain conditions. Half of the sum or £25,000, was spent in the purchase of ground, the erection of the College and masters' and janitor's residences. The other half has been invested in lands, Government stock, etc., which altogether yield an income of £1,454.

The Cupar Academy was also founded in 1831, and owes its origin, like the Madras College, to the munificence of Dr. Andrew Bell. An estate, estimated at £10,000 was bequeathed for its endowment, the rental of which is £670. Dollar Institution was founded by John M'Nab in 1818. The money left for its endowment was £92,345 and the present income of the school from dividends and feu-duties is £2,253.

Milne's Institution was founded by Andrew Milne, (who made his fortune in New Orleans) in 1846. The endowment consisted of a capital sum of £20,000 which yields an income of £626.

The Ewart Institute was founded in 1863 by two brothers, James and John Ewart. It is composed of two parts, a Ragged and a Middle-class school. The amount of the endowment was £17,000 and the income applicable to the Middle-class school, and paid to the teachers during the last financial year, was £240; but the Institute will ultimately be much richer, as there is a considerable sum still held in life-rent by an aged person.

Of the sixteen schools or academies that compose the second class, only six have permanent endowments. The total value of these is about

£870. They vary from £20 a year in Arbroath, to £350 in Dundee. These endowments are due to various sources: to ancient mortifications, to individual generosity, or are the balance of money that was left after the erection of the buildings. It will be observed that the aggregate value is trifling, and that in regard to their endowments the Academies are much on the same footing as ordinary Burgh schools. But it would be unjust to their founders, and to the liberality of their original subscribers, who restored and remodeled so many of our Grammar schools, not to mention that these permanent endowments represent but a very small portion of the pecuniary good done to the community by the establishment of the Academies under a joint directorate. In almost every case they took the place of ruinous and decayed buildings, and the amount of money invested in them in this shape was quite as valuable as any endowment could have been. In Dundee, for example, the school buildings, including ground and fittings, cost upwards of £11,000. The expense of the building was defrayed entirely by subscriptions, the town contributing only the site, which was given at a nominal rent. Greenock Academy cost the subscribers £7,243; Dumbarton, £6,500, of which £1,500 was given from the Corporation funds; and Aberdeen New Grammar school (although, for reasons given in a former chapter, it is not included in this class of schools) cost private individuals and the town no less than £16.600.

Of the twenty-nine Burgh schools of the first class, nineteen have no endowment whatsoever; ten have endowments, which amount altogether to about £1,400. Among the unendowed schools it is strange to find that of Glasgow. It is almost inconceivable that no portion of the Church patrimony, which was devoted to religion and education in 1560, should have fallen to its share; but we have been unable to trace any revenue from this source, and if it ever existed, it has long been mixed up with the general funds of the city. The best endowed schools of this class (and they are also the most liberally supported by annual grants) are Edinburgh and Aberdeen. The former has an income, applicable to the teachers and general school purposes, of £513, and the latter has for more than two hundred years possessed an endowment of considerable amount. Its annual value is £164. In the cases of St. Andrew, and Cupar, the authorities bartered their rights.

(2.) Annual Grants.-The general usage in burghs is for the authorities to attach a certain salary to the office of the different masters at the time of the appointment. There is reason to believe that in many cases these salaries represent ancient endowments and the income from Church lands and other sources that were dedicated to the Burgh schools before and after the Reformation. As a matter of fact, the salaries of the teachers are now paid out of the common good, and the alterages, glebe lands, and other possessions, of which we hear in Renfrew, Paisley, Irvine, and elsewhere, have long been lost sight of as special sources of income. As a general rule, the rector or head master had an allowance of £20

to £100, and where there were several teachers of departments, frequently two or more had allowances. The total amount of the sum thus voluntarily subscribed for salaries during the last financial year was, in round numbers, £3,500. This, however, represents only a portion of the sum contributed by the Town-Councils. They are in the habit of making annual grants to each school for prizes, feu-duty, repairs, and other necessary expenses. The outlay on these other items varies very much in different burghs, and even in the same burgh from year to year; but except perhaps in one particular, in the purchase of prizes, which are distributed with a very liberal hand in some of the schools, it is restricted within the narrowest limits. A frugal spirit regulates the expenditure, more especially on repairs. Few of the burghs spend annually more than ten or twenty pounds on general school expenses. In several of them we failed to find any sum entered in the burgh accounts under this head. Some of them, however are exceptionally liberal, and among these may be mentioned Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The first of these burghs contributes, apart from salaries, no less than £380, and it has undertaken an annual burden of nearly the same amount till the year 1876, when its building debt will be extinguished. The total amount of grants made for general school purposes by the different Town-Councils is about £2,100. Altogether, therefore, the burgh contributions, both for salaries and other items, amount to about £5,600, divided in the way that we have shown, namely, £3,500 to salaries, and £2,100 to other items.

(3.) Bursaries. Out of all the Public schools from which we have received returns, forty-two have no bursaries; the rest have an annual income applicable to this purpose of £1,630. Of this sum, £1,272 are devoted to boys at school, and £358 to students at college. There are besides, a few money prizes that might be included under this head, but they are insignificant in number and value. Here and there also, throughout the schools, we found boys in the enjoyment of bursaries that paid for their books and fees.

The school bursaries, which are about 170 in all, yield on an average rather more than £7 a year to each burser. There is, however, a great variety amongst them, and some are hardly worthy of the name.

All the school bursaries, however, are by no means insignificant. Even in Banff, where the average is so low, there is one bursary worth £22 a year. In Inverness Academy there is a large endowment called the Mackintosh or Farr Fund. By means of it ten boys are clothed, educated, and boarded, at an annual cost of £499, or £50 a head. These bursaries are regulated by Act of Parliament, and under it power is given to establish three bursaries at a University of the value of £60 each. This power has not yet been exercised; when it is, the number of bursars at the school will be diminished. In Aberdeen New Grammar School there are 28 bursaries that vary in value from £3 to £16. In Dundee, there is one mortification to which we would call especial attention. In

1695 a person of the name of Ferguson left a sum of money for the maintenance of two boys at the "Grammar School" of Dundee for four years, with power to send any of the boys who were "capable of learning and had an inclination to be scholars," to the University of St. Andrews when their school course was ended. This power has never been exercised by the trustees. The stock of the mortification consisted, at the close of last account, of £3,230, and the income from this, and (we presume) from other money lying at interest, may be stated at £250.

The college bursaries are much fewer in number, but more valuable than the school bursaries. There are two in Irvine of £20 each, tenable for four years, to be competed for by students about to enter college. There are three in Dumfries worth £18, £15, and £12. They are tenable each for one year. The bursars must attend the mathematical and one other class in Edinburgh or Glasgow University. They are open to all boys who have attended the Dumfries Academy for two years, and are given by competition in English, classics, and mathematics. In Dundee, two bursaries of £20 each have just been founded for the maintenance of two boys at St. Andrews. They are to be tenable for four years, and are to be given for attainments in classics and mathematics, an equal value being assigned to each subject. In Edinburgh High School there is but one college bursary of a rather peculiar nature. The dux of the High School, if he wish to prosecute his studies for one of the learned professions, and require assistance, is entitled to demand that the Governors of Heriot's Hospital should present him to a bursary at their. disposal of the annual value of £20, tenable for four consecutive years during the student's attendance in the literary classes of the University of Edinburgh. In the Madras College, St. Andrews, there are eight bursaries for boys who have been educated at the school for at least three years. They are tenable for four years, and consist of one of £20, two of £15, and five of £10. They are presented each year to the two best pupils in the classical department, and the bursars must attend St. Andrews University.

It will be seen, from the above details that the college bursaries are mostly given by competition, or are assigned to those boys who have distinguished themselves at school. We believe that they have proved of undoubted service in promoting the education of deserving students. We wish that we could say as much in favor of the school bursaries, but truth compels us to acknowledge that they do less good than might be expected, and that occasionally, from the mode of their administration, they are a positive evil. The first point to which we would call attention is the small value of most of the bursaries. A few of the less important might be retained for necessitous cases, but it would certainly be an advantage if a number of them were thrown into one, so as to raise the minimum value to £6 or £7.

In the next place, the condition of poverty attached to most of the bursaries is one of very doubtful utility. It seems, at first sight, wise