The Express.
London, England, 1866-06-21 00:00:00

82'. PAUL'S SCHOOL.

Yesterday being Apposition-day at St. Paula 4
School a large number of visitors and of the friends and
relatives of the students assembled in the large school-
room to witness the distribution of the prizes, and to
listen to the delivery of the speeches. Amongst those pre-
sent were the Bishop of Winchester, the Bishop of Peter-
borough, the Bishop of Oxford, Dr. Suter, bishop-elect of
Nelson ; Mr. Watney, surveyor accountant, Mr. Watson,
Mr. Fall, and other members of the Mercers' Company
the Yen. Archdeacon Hale, Yen. Archdeacon Browne, Dr.
Kynaston,the headmaster, and other masters of the school,
do. The governors' prizes were awarded to Mr. J. R. Ming-
worth, for his Oreek verse translation from the " Virgin
Martyr" of Messinger, and to Mr. E. W. South for his de-
scription in Latin Hexameters of the plague in the reign of
Edward 111. The Sleath prize was given to Mr. Illingworth
for his Latin Essay on the tragic writers of Athens ; the
Truro prize to Mr. South, for his English Essay on the sub-
ject of " National struggles in ancient and modern times,
considered in their relation to national literature ;" and
the Milton prize for English verse to Mr. McGill, the cap-
tain of the school ; subject, "The Cave of Macchpelah." To
each of the recipients of prizes the head master addressed
kind words of satisfaction and encouragement. It
has been the custom in St. Paul's for some years past
to contribute and recite a school song—a custom which by
been adopted to some extent in the public schools of Har-
row, Rugby, and Marlborough. Erasmus contributed a song
of this kind to St. Paul's School, and he relates that it was
the daily practice in his time for the pupils to recite •
sacred hymn on entering and leaving the school. The sub-
ject of Dr. Kynaston's introductory Latin ode on the pre-
sent occasion is the question whether the school should re-
main in the City or be transferred to the country. The
doctor expresses no opinion one way or the other; he leaves
the decision of that important point in the hands of the
patrons of the school. For himself, he says :
Non omittam roe dignarl,
Itue et urns, amore part.
But he makes it a condition of removal, if such should be
the decision, that the traditions of the old school should

follow its rustication. This ode was recited by Mr.
McGill. Tho " speeches " on the present occasion were
selected from the " Frogs" of Aristophanes, the
" Iphigenia in Towle " of Euripides, Shakespeare's Henry
VI., part 11, and the " Deux Precepteurs "of Scribe. The
following pupils took part in the performance :—Messrs.
McGill, Mills, Seaman, Reynell, Glaisher„ Dalton, Moore
South, Peck, Savory, Cowie, Porah, Burdon, Illing.
worth, ICempe, Smiles, and Manson. Mr. Secretary
Pepys tells us in his diary that he was in the habit
of coming to St. Paul's School on Apposition-day to
hear the boys " apposed," and that he did not think
the speeches were as good as they used to be in his own
school days. This is a criticism natural to almost
all old gossiper., but whatever might be the
case in Pepys' time it is not true of the
Pauline prolusions of the present time. No one
ought or can expect much versatility or amusement from •
representation of a scene in a Greek tragic or comic writer.
All that can reasonably be looked for in such a case is a
facile delivery and correct expression, and in these respects
the alumni acquitted themselves most satisfactorily. In
the English and more especially in the French portion of
the performances, where the spirit of the piece was in
more complete harmony with modern ideas, the execution
was excellent. The points were brought out in full force,
the actors entered into the humour of the several parts,
and they conveyed to the audience the nice characteri-
sation which they so well conceived themselves. Where
all acted well it would appear invidious to single out
particular names for approbation. They were entirely
successful, for they were greatly amusing.