Another boy, with a great deal of imagination and power of deduction, having to give the derivation of the French word _cheval_, wrote the following essay: "_Cheval_ comes from the Latin _equus_. The letter _u_ was written _v_, which gave _equus_ = _eqvus_ = quevus. "This word became _quevalus_, which finally gave _cheval_." We might exclaim with d'Aceilly: "_Cheval_ vient d'_equus_, sans doute; Mais il faut convenir aussi Qu'à venir de là jusqu'ici, Il a bien changé sur la route."[9] [9] "_'Cheval' comes from 'equus' no doubt; but it must be confessed that, to come to us in that state, it has sadly altered on the way._" * * * * * This boy's method is, after all, a return to the old methods. If we consult Ménage's Etymological Dictionary, we see that he easily derives _rat_ from _mus_, and _haricot_ from _faba_, to take only two instances of the method. "The Latin _mus_," he says, "became _muratus_, and then _ratus_, which gave us _rat_." He deals no less successfully with _haricot_, viz: "The Latin _faba_ became by corruption _fabaricus_, which altered into _fabaricotus_, and finally into _aricotus_, which gave us _haricot_." After this we may appreciate Voltaire's remark that "philologists take no account of vowels, and very little notice of consonants." Nor do boys. * * * * * If the answers given by candidates at examinations are often remarkable, the questions asked by the examiners are often more wonderful still. Here are a few which have been seriously asked, and--_proh pudor!_--published: "Define, with reference to passages in the _Lettres Provinciales_, 'grâce suffisante,' 'grâce efficace,' 'grâce actuelle,' '_casuisme_,' 'pouvoir prochain,' 'probabilisme.' Also explain what is meant by 'casuistry.' What can be said in its defence?" "Give some account of Escobar." "What are the principal differences between the Latin and the French languages?" Well might an eminent _confrère_ exclaim one day: "Is not all this printed and published to discourage the study of French?" * * * * * I once heard an examiner ask a dear little fellow, aged eleven, the following poser: "Give me the derivations of all the words of the French sentence you have just read aloud." Poor little boy! He took the examiner for a wonderful man. So he was. * * * * * English examinations consist of so many papers to be taken up; the "viva voce" does not play an important part in England, as it does in France. A "viva voce" examination very often gives the examiner a better idea of the candidate's abilities and knowledge than a written one, but it has many drawbacks. It favors babblers and the self-assured, and does not enable the timid to show themselves at their best.