THE THREE KINGS' WESLEY COLLEGE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 282, 9 December 1879, Page 2

THE THREE KINGS' WESLEY COLLEGE.

[Auckland Star.} The ministers attending the Wesleyan District meeting at Auckland were a few days ago invited by the principal, the Rev Thomas Buddie, to visit the College to take part in and witness the public examination of the Maori students. Nearly all the Ministers of the district attended, including friends from town and country. At an early hour in the morning a visitor to the Three Kings Institution would have been struck with the unusual amount of commotion among the inmates. The Maoris, both young and old, were very early about, having each donned his Sunday apparel, with faces as perfectly clean as nature would allow them, and every countenance radiant with expectancy, hoping for a fine day. The number of Maori3 is below twenty, jet all the inmates seem most intelligent and sharp, and are to all appearance as happy as the day is long. For some time (naturally speaking) the students had been looking forward in anticipation of the examination, but not one of them knew the exact line of procedure the examiners would take. Indeed, as the pupils waited for the ordeal, (which to them was most momentous) their faces wore no fearful forebodings as to failure in answering, but, on the contrary, beamed with delight and eagerness for the test and trial. There was young Moses, a smart fellow about 15, who might challenge most of his size and weight in any of our schools for answering impromptu on difficult doctrinal subjects in biblical knowledge, and he can sing like a lark. Some of the preachers who examined have been themselves pedagogues in their day, and know how to rut " ticklers " in arithmetic, fractions and interest being specially used, yet the answers were most cleverly given. Dr Kidd, the classical tutor, and the principal, deserve great credit for their efforts in giving such excellent tuition to the students.