On Tuesday evening, Sir Stafford Northcote distributed the prizes to
the Exeter School of Science and Art, and in remark- ing on the system of competition, he observed that he himself did not feel disposed to say all the evil things of " cram" which he often heard said, because he believed that a man capable of successful cram, though not necessarily well taught in the sub- jects which he has crammed, did show himself capable of so methodising his study, and so disciplining his own powers of attention, as to learn what may be even more useful to him in practical life than the subject studied itself. That is a valu- able and, to some extent, an original remark. We ourselves have often said that the man who answers in an examination relatively better than his acquired knowledge warrants, is sure to be an abler man of the world, though by no means neces- sarily a more thorough student, than the man who answers poorly relatively to the amount of his exact knowledge. Sir Stafford Northcote extends this to the skill shown even in getting up a subject effectually for temporary purposes ; and no doubt he is right. At the same time, a man who has crammed is always in danger of forgetting that, though he has gone through an effective intellectual discipline, its effectiveness consists chiefly in the economy by which a little is made much of for the pur- poses of display,—a kind of economy of which there is not a little reason even for men of the world to feel ashamed.
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