Témiscouata-Notre-Dame des Sept Douleurs: Mr. Arthur Ouellet, continued in office.

Chicoutimi-Grande Baie: Mr. Napoléon Dallaire, to replace Mr. Pitre Lalancette.

Dorchester-Saint Abdon: Revd. M. V. Thomas Lauzé, priest, and M. Thomas Giroux, the former continued in office, the latter to replace Mr Théodore Dutil.

Appointment of School Trustees.

Soulanges-Saint Zotique (Côteau Landing): Mr Edwin French, continued in office.

His Honor the Lieutenant-Governor has been pleased, by order in council, dated the 1st of September, 1899, to make the following appointments, to wit:

1. Mr. Jean-Baptiste Primeau, of the city of Montreal, school inspector for the county of Two Mountains and of Terrebonne, except the municipalities of Saint Faustin and of Saint Jovite, to replace Mr. J. P. Nantel, deceased. 2. Mr. Jos. Trefflé Molleur, of Saint Alexandre, county of Iberville, school inspector for the county of Rouville and of Saint Hyacinth, and the municipalities of Saint Dominique, Sainte Rosalie and Saint Pie, in the county of Bagot, to replace Mr. Evariste Picard des Troismaisons, deceased.

3. Mr. Joseph Hébert, of Saint Valentin, county of Saint John, school inspector for the counties of Montcalm and of L'Assomption, and the municipalities of Lanoraie and of Lavaltrie, in the county of Berthier, to replace Mr. Joseph Cyprien Dupuis, absent from the province.

4. Mr. G. S. Vien, of Lauzon, county of Levis, now school inspector for the counties of Levis and part of the county of Dorchester, school inspector for the county of Montmorency, except the municipalities of Saint Adolphe and of Laval, for the city of Quebec, and the municipality of Saint Roch North, to replace Mr. Joseph Prémont, deceased.

5. Mr. L. S. Abdon Guay, of Saint David, county of Levis, now school inspector of the county of Lotbinière and of part of the county of Megantic, school inspector for the county of Levis and that of Dorchester, except the municipalities of Sainte Justine, Sainte Germaine, Sainte Rose de Watford, Saint Zacharie, Saint Prosper de Watford and Saint-Benjamin du Lac à Busque, to replace Mr. Vien, transferred to another district.

6. Mr. L. S. Omer Pagé, of Saint Louis de Lotbinière, county of Lotbinière, now school inspector for the county of Pontiac, and of part of the county of Ottawa, school inspector for the county of Lotbinière and the municipalities of Sainte Julie, Saint Calixte de Somerset, Sainte Anastasie, Nelson, Notre-Dame de Lourdes, Plessisville, Inverness and Saint Pierre Baptiste, in the county of Megantic, to replace Mr. L. S. Abdon Guay, tranferred to another district.

7. Mr. Frs Xavier Guay, of Saint Maurice, in the county of Champlain, is appointed school inspector for the county of Pontiac and the west part of the county of Ottawa to the Valley of the river du Lièvre, exclusively, to replace Mr. Pagé, transferrred to another district.

The former appointments and commissions of Messrs. G. S. Vien, Ls. Abdon Guay and Ls. Omer Pagé being revoked CIRCULAR OF ADVICE TO THE SUPERIOR SCHOOLS

FOR 1899-1900.

The attention of the principals and head teachers of the Superior Schools is respectfully drawn to the following suggestions for 1899-1900; and for the guidance of this office they are requested to send by return of mail a postal card with the names of the members of their staff as well as the names of the Chairman and Secretary-Treasurer of the Board of Commissioners or Trustees. Last year there was not a little inconvenience from teachers failing to send in a return.

1. A copy of the Course of Study and a neatly written or printed Time-Table should be framed and hung up on the wall in each room. This year a direct report will be made of the appearance of each class-room; and the teacher of each department should put forth every effort to improve the environment by means of maps, charts, and wall decorations, including a flag of the Empire and one of the Dominion, with a picture of Her Majesty Queen Victoria. Each class-room should be supplied with a full set of maps, charts and apparatus required for the school grades, and application should be made to the Commissioners for such. At the end of the year, the names of the schools excelling in this respect will be specially mentioned.

2. The fourth competition for the best kept grounds has taken place this year. The prizes awarded in this com

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petition are a first prize of $100, a second prize of $50 and a third prize of $25. The award is made on (1) the spaciousness of the grounds, (2) the separation of the ornamental in front from the ordinary play-ground, (3) the situation of the outhouses hidden away as they should be behind shrubbery, and (4) the number of trees planted and their arrangement. Wherever possible a flower-stand or two should decorate the approach in front. In preparing to take part in such a competition, every offort should be put forth on the part of the teachers to enlist the sympathy of the Commissioners and community. As the accompanying schedule, indicating the scope of the Inspector's Report, shows, a note will be made this year as to what the teachers and Commissioners have done in preparing to enter upon such a competition in the near future.

3. The schedule indicating the scope of the Inspector's Report makes plain what ought to be done to have the school take a high standing in point of equipment, etc. The teacher may fill in all the blanks that can be filled in without the Inspector's assistance, and retain the figures until the date of the Inspector's visit.

4. Last year there was some little misunderstanding in regard to the kind of specimens of work which should be submitted to the Inspector at the time of his annual visit. This year every pupil is to prepare a specimen of his or her writing. These specimens are to be arranged in order of merit by the teacher and presented to the Inspector during his visit. They should be written on paper of a uniform size and neatly pinned together. Similar specimens, one from each pupil, are also to be prepared by all the pupils taking drawing and book-keeping. The teacher will also be prepared to present a list of pupils in the classes in reading, with the names of the pupils arranged in the order of merit. The classes in oral French and hygiene will be conducted by the teacher, assisted by the Inspector.

5. In English the pupils of Grade I. Model may confine themselves to the scope of the Course of Study, special attention being given to the analyzing and comparing of sentences. The quoting of special literary extracts will not be asked for at the examination of this grade. In the other grades the analyzing and quotation of extracts will be confined to the authors prescribed, with no alternative papers provided this year.

6. In French the scope of the grammar questions will be that laid down in the Course of Study without special reference to the pages of any of the prescribed French grammars. The translation required of the pupils of Grade I. Model School will be the first five prose extracts from the Progressive French Reader (Part I.) Pupils of Grade II. Model School will be prepared to translate any extract from the first fifteen pages of the above reader; pupils of Grade I. Academy will take up the first seventy pages of the same book, and pupils of Grade II. Academy will study the first seventy pages of the Progressive Reader (Part II.) In the last two grades the dictation and retranslation will be confined to the first ten prose extracts.

7. In Latin, the scope of the grammar questions, as in the French, will be that laid down in the Course of Study without special reference to the pages of any of the prescribed Latin grammars. In Grade II. Model School, the pupils will be expected to translate any easy simple sentence with the help of a vocabulary. The Course of Study definitely indicates the scope of the translation in the other grades. Questions may be expected on the geography of Ancient Gaul and the history in the chapters to be translated. In the translating of English into Latin, the words used will be taken from the chapters selected for translation. In the last two grades special attention should be given to the idiomatic forms of the ablative absolute, the accusative before the infinitive, and the gerundive construction. The attention of the pupils should also be directed to a thorough knowledge of the genders of the nouns, the principal parts of the verbs and the four participial forms. In translation, a sound English sentence should always be required as an equivalent to the sound Latin sentences of Cæsar. Pupils in Latin should also be trained to give English words that are derived from the Latin words being translated.

8. The scope of the examination in English and Canadian history will be confined to the limits laid down in the Course of Study without any special reference to the pages of any of the prescribed text-books, which the School Commissioners are free to select from, as the teacher may direct. In Grades I. and II. Model School only the more prominent events need be taken up.

9. In the schedule indicating the scope of the Inspector's

Report, special mention is made of physical, vocal, sentence and moral drills, and the teacher should not fail to have these in operation throughout the year. (1.) Physical drill, with exercises carefully planned out by the teacher, is not to be had in schools only for exhibition purposes. It should be engaged in daily, between times, as a healthful exercise. Vocal drill includes elocutionary effects and the promotion of good reading and speaking in the classes. Indistinctness of utterance can only be checked by a sound vocal drill in simultaneous reading and singing. (2.) The making of sentences, written or spoken, is an exercise which should accompany every lesson, the teacher always refusing to accept from the pupils in their answers anything in the shape of bad or broken English. broken English. In this connection synthesis, or the composing of sentences from elemental phrases, should receive serious attention, as ensuring a practical result from the study of analysis. As a method of hearing a lesson there is no readier way than to draw a portion of the information acquired, from each pupil in the class in a well turned sentence. (3.) The moral drill may include a thorough knowledge of the Ten Commandments as further developed in the precepts of the Sermon on the Mount, and as illustrated by the virtues and vices of those of the heroes of history of whom the pupil has some knowledge. The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount should be carefully memorized as a preliminary to this drill in every school.

10. The principal or head teacher, who has by regulation a supervision of the whole school, is earnestly requested to distribute this circular among his associate teachers and the Commissioners. As was said in the circular of last year, The spirit of co-operation should prevail in all our work connected with the school life, and should any of our teachers have suggestions to make for the improvement of our schools, it is needless to say that, in the future as in the past, such suggestions will always be gladly received and considered by the Inspector. Through such co-operation no mistake has ever been allowed to militate against any school or pupil.

J. M. HARPER,

Inspector.