Brothers. As his Lordship has said, it is the first time that this school has come under our Government grant-in-aid system, although that system was established in 1873. The difficulties to which his Lordship referred have been happily surmounted, and Sir MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH, in the decision he gave, has caused universal satisfaction throughout the Colony to the School managers and the parents of the pupils.
It is true his predecessor, Lord CARNARVON, addressed to me a despatch desiring me to ask the Bishop how it came to pass that in this Colony the Roman Catholic schools were not accepting any aid from the Government. Accordingly, a letter was addressed to the Bishop conveying the instructions I had received from Lord CARNARVON. The Bishop, in answering, went minutely into the objections that he and other managers of schools took to the grant-in-aid scheme, for it did so happen that he did not stand alone in the objection that he raised to it.
At the very same time that his Lordship objected to the scheme as it then stood, the head of the Berlin Mission, Pastor KLITZKE, his successor during his absence, Pastor Louis, and our late Colonial Chaplain, Mr. KIDD, also came to me and stated their objections to the scheme. Those objections were reduced to writing and duly transmitted by me to Her Majesty's Government. They turned mainly on one point, that the scheme insisted that certain books to be used in the schools should be secular books, and that four hours a day should be given to purely secular instruction.
They said-" Let us teach our schools as we ourselves and the parents of the children think best, teaching according to the standards fixed upon by the Government; let the Government select the subjects, let Government select its own Inspectors and Examiners and give the grant-in-aid according to the result of their inspection and examination, but do not tie us down to any specified class of books or four hours of secular teaching.
Sir MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH considered these objections, and of the ten points raised by the Bishop, he instructed me to grant seven, the other three being points of a different character, one of them relating to the two hundred attendances. I shall convey to the Secretary of State the cordial acknowledgments which the Bishop has made publicly to-day to Her Majesty's Government for what Sir MICHAEL HICKS-BEACH has done.
I shall also not fail to consider most carefully the Bishop's observations with respect to the two hundred attendances. It is a fact that at Singapore there is a different rule, and indeed the rule in England also on that subject is different. It is also, perhaps, a reasonable statement to make, that whilst it may be perfectly fair to expect two hundred attendances from a Chinese boy, to expect the same from a European boy in this climate may not be equally fair. However, I shall consider that question.
The school we are now assembled in is therefore enjoying a grant-in-aid, and the question arises, what does the Government get from this school, what advantage will Her Majesty's Government derive from the grant-in-aid given in this and similar institutions? I admit at once it is the duty of the State to assist education, but I think it is especially our duty in this Colony to assist in giving a sound English education.
It was therefore satisfactory to see that the young gentleman who read out the list of prizes so clearly, got a first prize. His correct enunciation showed how well he deserves it. Dr. EITEL has reported that, as far as English speaking goes, of all the schools he has been examining he regards this as the best; in arithmetic, he reports highly of his examination, and also in the art of handwriting.
In other words, the English speaking, the writing, and the arithmetic in this school show a sound basis for our mercantile requirements. The Inspector has also reported that the results of the teaching in Algebra and Geometry are excellent. But there is one defect to which I venture, as I have received a report on the subject officially, to call the attention of the teachers, and that is in English Composition.
Now, it arises, I believe, not so much from the fault of the teachers as from the fact that the pupils are mostly young gentlemen of the Portuguese race. I observe my friend Mr. LOUREIRO, the Portuguese Consul, here. He sees a majority of apparently Portuguese youth in this school; but I claim them from him as British subjects, because, although they are of the Portuguese race they have been born in the Colony, and therefore it is only their fathers or grandfathers he has charge of; I have official charge of these young gentlemen.
In the address, which my young friend ALMADA read, I have been invited to give the scholars advice. Acting on that invitation, I therefore recommend that they should endeavour of all things to improve their English Composition. We all know what admirable clerks the young Portuguese make; we know how accurately they keep their accounts, how clear is their handwriting; and we know their other good points,-fidelity, punctuality, and the courtesy that arises from a natural disposition to please; but they are defective in English Composition, and it is a most important thing in this Colony that they should pay attention to it, and that, in this respect, they should show they are equal to any other youths in Hongkong.
I would therefore advise them to establish some organisation or society among themselves where they might read little essays in English and discuss them, and also to endeavour to form a library of English authors, not so much of instructive as of entertaining books; by reading these books and writing essays they might gain the skill they require in English Composition. I am sure in giving that advice, from what I have seen of the prizes to-day I am only doing what the donors of the prizes would like.
I find among the prizes some contributed by Dr. STEWART, the Head Master of the Central School, and all the prizes he has given are prizes pointing in that direction,-to the teaching and studying of English.
Owing to the munificence of my generous friend, Mr. BELILIOS, there is established in this Colony now a series of scholarships. The Honourable Mr. RYRIE, Dr. EITEL, and the Governor of the Colony are the trustees of the BELILIOS Scholarships. Some of these will be devoted to giving medical instruction to Chinese, which I hope to see accomplished by means of the native physicians at the Tang Wah Hospital.