raised themselves to good social positions throughout England, the South of Scotland, and the Colonies. The few who remained at home are known to be the most intelligent and best informed in the Parish; and the great majority of those who have been educated on the system now in fashion have forgotten all they have ever learned and have taken to the herring fishing, while a miserable existence about their parents' crofts is enough to satisfy their highest ambition.

It is quite unnecessary to prove that those who advanced their social position from home, have acquired a better pronunciation than those who have never left it, and who have forgotten all they were ever taught; and in reply to the objection that those who are taught Gaelic can never write English with the same ease and fluency as those who obtain an exclusively English education, we assert that those of our Highland countrymen who knew, spoke, and wrote Gaelic best are pre-eminent amongst us as the best writers of English—such, for instance, as "Old" Norman Macleod; the late Dr Norman Macleod; Dr Macleod of Morven and his three sons; Sir James Mackintosh; Dr Mackintosh Mackay; John Mackenzie of the "Beauties of Gaelic Poetry;" Dr Maclauchlan; Dr Clerk, Kilmallie; Sheriff Nicolson; Mr Cameron of Renton; James Macpherson, of Ossianic fame; Dr Kennedy, Dingwall; Mr Blair, Glasgow; "Nether-Lochaber;" D. Mackinnon, Edinburgh; The Macdonalds of Fort-William and of the "Times;" and many others we could mention. We shall be delighted to see produced a list of writers from the Highlands, even if possessed of the so-called qualification of a total ignorance of the Gaelic language to equal these men in English composition. The contention of our opponents is really so irrational and absurd as to be unworthy of notice, were it not that we see men of position seriously giving expression to such absurdities. We have even seen a gentleman who has been elevated since, much to the surprise of the profession, to the position of an inspector of schools, stoutly maintaining it in large type in the columns of one of our northern newspapers. Such arguments amount to this—that a real and thorough knowledge of his native language, whether it be Gaelic, English, or French, is a drawback and a disqualification for acquiring and writing a foreign one, and that the greater his ignorance of his native tongue the greater the proficiency of a scholar in a foreign one; while common sense, (which is unfortunately, in educational circles, sometimes, and especially on this question, very uncommon), and all the experience of the past go to prove the very opposite.

It is pleasant to find the rational view making steady progress even among those who were understood for a long time to hold a different opinion. Mr Jolly, Her Majesty's Inspector of Schools, who is unfortunately ignorant of the native language of the children whom he examines professionally, expressed himself unfavourable to teaching Gaelic in Highland schools, before he had time to examine the question for himself; but having looked the matter in the face, and given it serious consideration, we are gratified to find him stating at the last annual meeting of the Gaelic Society that he belonged to the class who desired that Gaelic should be used for getting at the intelligence of the children when reading English; and who afterwards wished the Gaelic language and literature to be introduced when the children had mastered the mechanical difficulties of reading, and were able to enter into the meaning and spirit of what they read. "Although a Lowlander he had every sympathy with those who desired to preserve the Gaelic; and he held exactly the same views on the subject of Gaelic teaching as are held by Professor Blackie, the Rev. Alex. Macgregor, and Dr Clerk, Kilmallie." We have a pretty good idea as to what the Rev. Mr Macgregor's views on the question are, as well as Professor Blackie's, and are therefore quite satisfied with Mr Jolly's. The Professor, we are happy to say, has engaged to give expression to his, in a definite form, on an early date in these pages; and we feel sure that they will satisfy all reasonable men.

We attach great value to the expression of such an opinion as Mr Jolly's, arrived at after mature deliberation and observation of the requirements of the Highlands; from one who is himself a stranger to the language, and who would naturally be prejudiced against it; for we must keep in mind that in expressing such a favourable opinion he was to some extent weakening his own position as an Inspector of Schools, unable to examine in a language which he honestly affirmed, and with a candour which deserves acknowledgment, ought to be used, and at a certain stage taught in the schools. We are quite satisfied to place this opinion against the views of another inspector in the north, whose only reply to the advocates of Gaelic in our schools is—that such a system would limit the sphere from which to choose teachers—forgetting, or choosing to ignore, that the teachers ought and must accommodate themselves to the system which all rational men admit to be the only true and successful one, and the only one practised everywhere else out of the Highlands. A gentleman who could publicly use such an argument as, "If the language ought to be kept alive by being taught in school, surely Edinburgh and Glasgow are the places where this should be done, where the children know nothing of it, and not in the Highlands where the children already speak it with fluency,"—is perfectly innocent of the real question at issue, and deserves little notice or attention in the controversy.

We have by no means exhausted the subject, but shall, meanwhile, content ourselves by laying down the following propositions:—(1), That it being an acknowledged educational principle that the unknown can only be made successfully known through the known; and as this principle is not only acknowledged but practised everywhere else out of the Scottish Highlands we must hold it to be the only rational one to adopt there also; unless it can be shown that the Highlander is constructed intellectually entirely different from the rest of humanity. We must therefore, to be rational, teach the unknown English through the known Gaelic: (2), We must adapt the Code to the requirements of the special circumstances of the case: (3), Our teachers must keep in mind that after all, they are only a part (although a very important part), of the system by which Parliament has wisely decided to place education within the reach of every child in Scotland, and if it can be shown—and it is self-evident—that teachers who are ignorant of the Gaelic language are not competent or suitable to carry out the intentions of the Legislature, they must just accommodate themselves to the requirements of their position, and qualify properly to discharge their duties by acquiring a sufficient knowledge of Gaelic to enable them to impart education according to the only rational system, in use, in all civilised communities: (4), To get the full benefit of the concessions already made by the Education Department as to the testing of the child's intelligent understanding of his English reading by means of his native language, it is absolutely necessary that our Inspectors of Schools should have a sufficient knowledge of Gaelic to enable them to test the understanding of the children as intended by the Department, and now provided for, in the Code.

The great and primary question is, how to impart a sound education to the rising generation? The means—the teaching staff—are only important in so far as they serve to bring about the great end and principal object of all—an education in the true sense of the term.[A]

A. M.