6 JANUARY 1877, Page 28

We have to mention the half-yearly volume of the Argonaut,

edited by Mr. George Gladstone (Hodder and Stoughton), a magazine of merit, the most notable feature of which is the "Reports on the Progress of Science." Among the papers, we may call attention to two by the Rev' C. R. Barrett, on Chinese subjects, "Amusements of the Chinese" and "Chinese Schools and Education." Our young friends who may be dissatisfied with school here should see what it is in China,—no holidays (except a fortnight at the new year), no playing, no prizes, no fire in the school-rooms, no windows, and school-hours beyond all conception, not to speak of endurance, by a Western mind. Of the final results of this education Mr. Barrett does not think highly. A successful Chinese scholar, and success is possible only after a very fierce competition, knows very little beyond the Chinese classics, but these, it is true, he knows as we know the alphabet.