The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1865-06-06 00:00:00

SCHOOLS AND GRAMMAR SCHOOLS.

To the Editors.

When boys ought to go to school what they ought
to learn and what to pay is truly one of the intense
grievances of Paterfamilias. Poor man, no grumbling
comes amiss to him ; hia griefs are "legion ;" he
began by inquiring of the discerning public), whether
a quart bottle really held a quart, then, whether if
he bought a pound of coffee he really bought coffee,
all he positively knew was that be paid for it. Now
the poor fellow has got hold of schools. Out of the
Timer and into the Certain Magarene, and school.
and schoolmasters have got hold of him. Whether
they will pommel him soundly, or he them nobody
knows. Like John Gilpin he must ride hi. race,
perhaps come home minus hat and wig, and, bend*
bespattered with mud. He certainly has not talked
the quart bottle into a quart, and it is probable he
has as much chicory in his coffee as he had before.
But nothing daunts him, I warrant, if we could see
him. He is a little fat man, with a florid com-
plexion, and carries • stout stick, for he lays about
him with the energy of a Briton. Imagine his
audacity attacking Eton, Harrow, and Winchester;
it makes one's blood curdle to think of it. He
had the impudence to ask them why they charged
him £2OO a year for his eon, when they were paid
to do it for nothing, and were after all nothing but
a charity school! What sort of armour does a man
require when he goes into each a scrimmage, five.
inch iron plates? no, they wont do; but armour he
must have of some sort, and had Paterfamiliaa had
on his he would not have been so roughly handled
in attacking an almost impregnable position. One
of the Eton masters tells him he should have made
himself acquainted with the subject, and that he
should have applied to the proper sources of infor-
mation. We can fancy the cold perspiration that he
experienced when he was told that ; he only knew
he paid his £2OO a-year, and was civilly told that
was all he need trouble his head about,
Telling us how the head master of a certain school,
when he takes his farewell of a scholar, has a bank
note on a plate, and hums a tune and gases
abstractedly out of the window, and all those sort
of accusations are severe blows certainly, but wont
remedy the abuse. The attack of Paterfamilias
should have been duly delivered on the law. of the
schools as a sort of wind-up. It is to be presumed
that all the revenues of large schools, for instance,
are apportioned by their own laws; so much for
this affair; so much for that person. What does it
signify whether any rich foundation school had a
million coming in annually? It is something like
the old bishopric.. A man was Bishop of Durham •
he had what was paid to him. A head master haa
his proportion, and as much more as he can get,
"till commissioners pounce upon him." Bequests,
too, are often in these foundations made for specific
purposes, and cannot be meddled with unless by
Act of Parliament.
The reason why, until very lately, there win no
French Professor at Eton was that there was nothing
in the laws of the school allotted to him. Their
charter, perhaps, (and many schools are the same) only
provided for Latin, writing, and arithmetic. But
seriously, did Paterfamilias think hisopponents were
bound to furnish him with his weapons of assault,
or to point out a convenient place for ruining their
=ion. Hence the answers reoeived only irritated
And no wonder; they were not meant to
enlighten him. Royal Commissioners may perhaps
freshen up their memories, although it is quite
passible they will not get a word more thistle
absolutely required.
It is to be presumed that commissioners may ask
the nature of the endowment, and gruffly tell them
they are charity schools! Fancy, what an indignity
to Eton I But how are they to avoid it? Suppos-
ing the uppec classes. were deprived of the luxury
of Eton, and shutting out the public, or obliged to
send them _ there for wthing ; how agonizing
Where gentlemen r to make
remedy

could all the young is. —.wen meet
their after life acquaintances? They have a . ty
it is true. Set up a school of their own, and call
it something like the proper name ; but then it
is not actually in the atmosphere of royalty, and
would perhaps be a failure. Another course which
daresay would have given satisfaction to Pater-
familias is, give them the house altogether, and give
the revenues to other schools. It is quite simple;
but if Patermamilias thought that too strong, make
them establish another school to be the cheap one,
and let the upper one pay as much as they please,
, then indeed might the extras pour in to the satisfac•
lion of all concerned.
One of the great blunders of modern dabbling in
education was the establiahment of national schools.
Had more grammar schools been endowed, and the
abuses of the old reformed, it would have created a
regular and complete system. Poorer boys would
thus have thegreat advantage of coming into contact
iyith a class above them, for it must be observed
'thst boys have no idea of social claariflcation ; they
will learn their lessons in company with poor or rich.
111 is the parents who think of those distinctions,
'and at relent Rational schools are very nearly equal
in tesehing to grammar schools, thus rendering the
latter, in many instances, useless. One highly im-
portant reform would place grammar schools in a higher
position, and make them resemble colleges, that is
for the various professions and trades to complete one
or two perfect means for any youth desiring to be,
say a surgeon, or • merchant. The first must, of
coarse, want Latin and science; the other wants
arithmetic, geography, modern Languages, &a To
cram all youths indiscriminately with the same mental
food seems unreasonable; it seems unreasonable we
should pore over books for days and months, and
never open them again. It is said, of worm, ,
you can't tell what profession • youth may take.
Let him take the one most convenient for his future
prospects and his friends' wishes. It used to be con-
sidered impossible to divert any boy into the
channel of his future calling, but now-a-days it is
constantly and easily done. The army, the navy,
and the church have their regular youthful candi-
dates, who do not very often miss the mark. It can-
not be denied that when the scheme fails it amounts
toe very great misfortune. But some branch.' of
learning all must learn. A man cannot, of course,
be of any use unless be knows arithmetic, and above
all he should know his own language. -Enough for
to-day Bevenons d nos bouteilles We will in
another letter continue the subject.
NO Ni

I food

A ME.
restoring

Was ATRIRTON has undertaken the coot of
Manchester Cathedral, south aide.
Mace and Wormald are to fight for the champion's
belt and 1.1200 a tide on November 1.
A 8011NTIFIC Frenchman has taken out a patent for
raising a ship in the air and manoeuvring it there.
Matt. LONGIWOBTO ) YstvlaTom is reported to be
recovering her health satisfactorily, on the continent.
She wee in • very low state previous to leaving Edin-
burgh, insomuch that the worst was feared. In her
action against the Saturday &vino, final judgment will
be given to • few weeks.
GRATIFYING INTKLLIO/CROL -It must be gratifying
to all those who hare found out the value of RICEITT'S
DIAMOND BLACK LSAD, to learn that it is used in the
rMalsese of the Queen, and Prince of Wales. The Royal
Amnesties WWII among its fint patrons.
Rolusea PURIM° EXTRACT OF LIMI JOICI AND
OLTIMRINF. —lt is only within the Let few years that
the °filmy of lemon juice as • vegetable medicine kaa
been discovered, but It. extraordinary properties for
proration rather than cure have been so tested by ea-
, that it has ' • the most popnlar and at the

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