The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-11 00:00:00

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under command of Uapt. de hlolyns, with Lieut.
Alleyne, there will also embark 1 sergeant and 30
gunners Royal Artillery for Bermuda, and 10 gun-
ners of the Royal Artillery for the 15th Battery at
Nova Scotia,

On Thursday afternoon the whole of the Ist divi-
sion, Depot Brigade, Royal Artillery, commanded
by Lieut.-Col. R. Talbot, was assembled on the
parade ground of the head•quarters at Sheerness, to
witness the distribution of medals for long service
and good conduct to several members of the bri-
gade. The troops formed three sides of a hollow
square, when they were addressed in a few appro-
priate words by Col. W. R. Nedham, cammanding
the garrison at Sheerness, who afterwards handed
the medals to t:.e fortunate reeipients—Serg..llnlie,,
Bombardier Hull, and Gunners Wm, Stephens
ND&
j
,rnes Graham, who have each served for a period
of 21 years.
The fohowing detachments of the depot Royal.
Artilleryyesterdayemlebftahkead'. quarter's, Woo'!wich, far
Canning, for Madras :—LriLeue'edt on board the troopship
Gravesend, and
Lieut. Col. acintire, Capt.
three sit.elkbioae
fare at iet
rhay,
hoot,,
Na,eDms Gambier,
Purvis, Capt. Laurie,
Cambris, Haynes, Johnson,
and Lavie, Capt. Jackson,-
men, 15 women, and 16 children.

Improvements in Modern Schooling.
_

Not only are the books now used in teaching
the
rudiments of Greek and Latin vastly improved, but
the method of using them indicates on the part of
the teacher a much higher style of scholarship, and
leads on the part of the pupils to a more intelligent
appreciation of what they learn. Although we are
surprised to find some clinging with amiable
tenacity to the old " Eton Latin Grammar,"—which
we had fancied the labours of Kennedy, Donaldson,
and others had long superseded,—we congratulate

these on their adoption of "an easy and pleasant,
method for the perfect acquisition of that gram.
mar." Until quite lately, the only idea of teaching
Latin consisted in making the boy learn by rote
unintelligible rules, written in the very language he
was studying to acquire, in the fond hope that some
time or other he would be able to understand and.
apply them. It is encouraging nowadays to find
masters using the grammar as a book of reference
before it is committed to the memory as a system of
rules, explaining beforehand the form, usage, or
construction on which the rule is founded, and ira
various ways leading their pupils to regard thr,
grammar as made for the acquisition of the J'an-
guage, and not the language for the acquisition of
the grammar. To be able to repeat the rale was
the first and great commandment with tke school-
master of the last generation ; to unP.erstand the
principle and quote an illustration of it is the wiser
demand made by our present tachers on their
youthful scholars. It were needless to enlarge on
the benefits, direct and indirect, resulting from the
single change.
Another improvement, hardly less valuable, seems
to us to lie in the greater attention paid to philology
in its various branches as an aid in teaching. How
many boys, for example, thirty years ago, 'under-
stood the meaning of a case 9" On the other
hand, what a light must be thrown nam on t
chaos of genitives and datives, when most pupilhe
s
are shown by their teachers at the 'oeginning that
these case-endings only serve
Pate purpose of the
—that the "i" and " "
prepositions which are placed b'Jfore English words
simply express the "o
" domini," " domino,"
of " and " to" of their own
tongue, and when the knowledge of even the rudi-
ments of French and. German will be made to illus-
trate by contrast the point in question ! The same
holds in a, still greater degree with etymology.
Nothing is calculated to enlist a young pupil's at-
tention, improve his memory, and make him see the,
use of what he is learning so much as the percep-
tion of the likeness between his own speech and
what he hears called " the dead languages." It is
not that this was omitted by former schoolmasters,
but their attempts were, to say the least, infelici-
tous—even if their false etymology has not eou-
tributed in some degree to discredit the true, Hap-
pily, we shall not hear again (.7,0 —" I breathe,"
derived from the first and last letter of the alpha-
bet, as the first and last thing done in life ; or (7
traced to the reptile " g
Oar" to Eve.
new dictionary and lexicon adds some thin Every
g valua-
ble to this branch of study, and the increased ac-
quaintance with the modern languages makes its
introduction still more welcome to the learners. Let
an intelligent boy once have the likeness, not be-
tween single words merely, but (say, for instance)
between the French and Latin conjugations pointed
out to him, and a curiosity and mode of inquiry will
have been awakened in him, which will go on rais-
ing for itself and solving after a fashion similar pro-
blems in each day's lesson.
A third point on which we cannot but think 'we
have advanced is the diminished stress laid on mak-
ing Latin verses. We are perfectly aware of all
that can be urged in their favour, as teaching the,
delicacies of the language, cultivating general taste,
supplying a correct pronunciation, and so forth ; but
while we should be the last to undervalue these re-
sults when gained by the few, we cannot forget the
time wasted, the honest labour sacrificed, the more
valuable subjects neglected, by the many who never
gain any of the said results at all. Of all the unsavoury
sacrifices presented at the shrine of Parnassus we can
conceive none equal to the " nonsrase verses" written
by boys at their first school. Yet till quite recently
Latin versification formed necessary and impor-
tant part in the classical training of private as
well as public schools. .; and there was no greater
epoch in a boy's life, than when he first succeeded''
in making Bland's horse " wander in wide fields,.a
according to tale correct Eaeasur o of a Latin
hexameter. We have a hearty satisfactionin the
thought that is no longer deemed neLceastsianryveforrseas
boy to have made some ten thousand
(more than are contained in the lEneid ") before
the
e and that
t
he is nineteen years old ; that except for boys who
are likely to distinguish
ndneod in hunting ()u
rarely
themselves at he p
th
Univer-
sity, the e,-stemnee expended
w retained ; ts,in
the time o
the Gradus," is free to be used more wisely on
subjects not less beneficial to the mind, and infinitely
e
more valuable for life.
And here, perhaps, lies the crowning improve..
ment of all. While the classics are taught more
intelligently, other subjects are made of scarcely
less importance.
and Arithmetic,
mathematics, history,
perhaps the rudiments of natural science, are
now put on nearly an equal footing with the study
of Virgil and Homer, Cltsar and Xenophon. It
can no more be said of the young Englishman or
his preceptor, that his great object is " not to
reason, to imagine, or to invent, but to conjugate,
decline, and derive." Many are begi'nning to
believe, with Dr. Donaldson, that
the study
of Latin and Greek should not e,:en be entered
eleventh year of
upon till the tenth or
age, and that the previ;ms years of boys
are better spent in acquiring the geography
and history of their owr, country, and storing their
memory with passages from their vernacular litera-
ture. However tbls may be, it is certain that in all
the better private schools a wiser adjustment be-
tween the classical and non-classical part of instruc-
tion is now made with due reference to what may
be known or conjectured respecting the pupil's
work and prospects in life. The boy who is to enter
business at fifteen or the army at sixteen, has not
only not to swallow the same dose of Greek para-
digms and Latin exercises as his 'companion who is
destined for the University, but he is also furnished
with the instruction that will best fit him for his
calling. Such subjects as mathematics and modern
languages are not regarded in the light of " extras,"
to he left to chance. teachers, but are being more ands
more incorporated with the regular schoolwoaii,
taught with the same precision and treated with the
same importance as the rest. There is yet, no doubt,
much to be done; but with improved books, better
qualified teachers, and juster notions of education,
with the various examinations challenging emula-
tion, testing acquirements, exposing the incapable
schoolmasters, and recommending the successful—.
we may fairly hope to see a still greater improve..
meat in the method and results of our private
school teaching than any we have hitherto attained.
—.London Review.

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THEAT RE ROYAL DRU RY - LANE. --
Manr_cers, Messrs. Edmund Falconer and F. B.
Chatterton.—The Public is respectfully informed
the
that the
above (the National) Theatre will be OPENED torember
WINTER SEASON, on SATURDAY NEXT, Sept
12th, when will be produced an entirely nev; and
original Comedy, by Edmund Falconer, Author of
entitled
" Extremes," " Woman." " Peep o'Day," &c.,
NATURE'S ABOVE ART A Romance of the Nursery,
G.
in
which Messrs. Walter Lacy, Addison, Ryder, Barret
Sauneers,
t,
ltelmore, F. Chartes, Neville ; Miss Charlotte
Miss Murray, Miss R. Leclercq. Mrs. Melville, and Mrs. Ed-
mund Falconer. assisted by other artists, -will perform.
After the Comedy will be presented a 10pUlar Farce, prin-
cipal characters by favourite members of the Company.
Box-office open from Ten till Five daily.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE.
Lessee, Mr. George Vining.
Open under the Management of Mr. Walter Montgomery.
THIS EVENING, Massinger'a Play of A NEW WAY
TO PAY OLD DEBTS. Sir Giles Overreach, Mr. Walter
Alontgomery ; Lady Allworth, Miss Atkinson.
Ts be followed by FAMILY JARS.
Commence at 7.

T E ATP, E-RO VAL, ADELPHI.--•
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING CM week), at 7, a new comic drama, THE
HEN AND CRICK 'NS ; or, A Sign of Affection. Messrs.
thllington, H. Phillips, Stephenson ; Mrs. Stirling and Miss
ii. Simms.

After which, at a quaeer-past 8, the new drama of THE
_HAUNTED MAN; OR, THE Gt. °ST'S BARGAIN, in
which will be exhibited Professor Pepper's adaptation of
-he Great Spectral Illusion. Messrs. J. L. Toole, R. Phillips,
Sefton. C. J. Smith; Mrs. Alfred Mellon and Miss H. Simms.
Followed by a new Burlesque, entlled ILL-TREATED
IL TROVATORE. Messrs. Toole, P. Bedford, It. Phillips,
Ebnrne, C..J. Smith, Romer ; the Sisters Nelson, Carry and
Sara, and Miss K. Kelly.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. W. H. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, Ills FIRST CHAMPAGNE. Mr.
Leigh Murray.
Followed by (47th time) THE MOTTO, " I'M ALL
THERE." Messrs. Honey, Turner, E. Danvers, Collier,
Clifton ; Mesdames Ada Swanborough, F. Josephs, Maria
bimpson, Wallace, and .Jenny White.
To conclude with TURN HIM OUT. Mr. Turner, Miss
Thorne.