The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-10-31 00:00:00

BOYS' GENERAL scnoop.

The yearly public examination of the boys in the
upper elweles of this School, tdgether with the annttal
meeting of the subscribers took . place On Ttiesday
even.ng. The general hittitation to Ile jireetht Wiled to
the public seas tesjiended te b a Wig nunibet of the
[Arend of the children and a spenkling of the sub•
scribers, but it is evident that many of the supporters
of the school having paid their subscriptions leave
the rest to the committee and the master. But
they are kept well informed as to the progress
of the institution by the annual reports distributed by
the Committee, together with the notices of the meeting
punished in the newspapers, and we feel aura they may
be satisfied that their charity is well bestowed
while the Govetnntent Inspector speaks so highly
of the proficiency of the boys and the Committee
esteem the master en thotoughly. And with
regard yri Outteintieht inifilitert hieing &sett
them under Various aspects, We are dilinosed to thine
that in order to value aright their reports of school 'era,.
mination-,. their needs to be appended to each report a
certificate respecting the state of the officials' nervous
system at the time he performs his wore. ithAptiotua
happen to bp enwiol fod j.n4h,bE thw Ohildien &shelter
it immediate*, end are cUnfounded by the iteryi
initialer in which he conducts his examination, they I
falter, he is iinpatient, and then the poor lads
i I
break down. If, on the other hand, the inspector is
well and happy, he wins the confidence of the children ,
and they answer him as readily as they would their
familiar master. Now, although we find ourselves
talking rather out of the regular course, it strikes us
that her Majesty's servant on visiting this sehool last
April was 'AD from a headaehej and *se torttired
by the IlAalltest et* fed' see oliseree that he iiimplains
of the bbys hitting too much noise with their pencils
when writing on elates. Well, if our conjecture is
right, while we heartily sympathise with the Inspector
under the wearisome pain, we think it is rather ' hard
lines"—though, perhaps, we ought not to use slang
terms when speaking about schools—for Mr. Beard. With
regstd to the committee, we feel that with many of
them this school is their pet local philanthropic scheme,
and that they watch over It with unwearyiug diligence,
We do not know mdeh about the several gentltemen; but
we trttst
.fcir the nuteter'S gsee, that nope o them Sr
afifictdd with ediniaticinal theories, Which is Wootton the
case. But, to the business of the meeting.
The spaci us school•room was decorated as aforetime
In honour of the event. The Worshipful the Mayor
(H. E. H..unsell, ), on a raised dais at the Upper end
of the room, presided, supported by the Rev. J. Stevens,
Mr. J. Williams, Mr. T. Colfox, Mr. J. P. Stephens,
Mr. J. Bartlett, Mr. T. H. Edmunds, and Mr. Stephens,
jun.
obildren ,wei% `ertitaideti ihio heJrettainttlents
lh reagliiiii; Arithmetic, geogrtphy, an the seteral
subjects COM prefaced by sine/big rig& Us dial,* of,tbit
latter at once, we are glad to notice that tfie pica:3
selected were school songs of the hearty cheerful sort,
which the boys appeared thoroughly to enjoy. As to
the reading, after the report of the Inspector and the
result of his examination, we will not presume to criticise
it I. was certalbly 'sped as in former years and when
the short period which the boys remain in the school is
recollected, what more can we expect? They readily an•
livered the questions put arising out of the sobjeces of
their rfttiling. buring,thie part Of the progrAinsolk yre
were 4. te thid thet the hoyjt,bawe latektaugh th t soe;
thilig o netuiel Ohiltieophy. an Ills of great 'terriers to
MOtt iit every station of life. Mr. Reynolds, Mr. J.
Williams, and Mr. Stephens, jun., conducted the
exainioation in arithmetic. Moat of the questions in-
volved many figures, and were little arithmetical
mules. Some of them were, Vwever, answered, buts
twainher prpeed top ~ et, to us; this invested
the plot aatielattoty heti of the prbeeeilinfe, Le the
Auestlinere Were strahgers to the boys in that capacity,
and there could be no sort of preparation for it,
under which suspicion, we must say, all publics
examinations, In . our opinion, lie. The questions
. . . , in seograp _
and cor
&dried f