The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-02 00:00:00

WELLINGTON COLLEGE.

. -
The first regular-" speech day" of this institution,
which bids fair to become a rival of : our more cele-

bratcd public schools, took place yeEterday, in the
presence of his Royal Highness the Prince Consort,
his Royal Highness Prince Arthur, the Earl of
'Derby, and a large party of guests, among whom
were Sir J. Lawrence, Sir C. Phippg, Sir W. Cope,

and the Rev. Mr. Kingsley. The ptaCf.l. 9.liosen for
the ceremony was the great dining htal4Apie col-
lege, in the centre of which, from a 61110111.yr4evated.
platform, the youthful Cicero harang*trilio assem-
bled Quirites, and the aspiring Rosa appealed to-
a good-humoured and kindly disposedl audience.
After Kent's beautiful anthem, " Thine, 0 Lord,
is the greatness," very sweetly arid cotrectly given,
with which the proceedings s':cric.ca:l,
Mr. Boughey, the head OritiPkt ol: the school,
stepped forward on the platform. ais l h&-gau the
recitations with a portion of Mr. Teirit yson's well-
known ode on the death of the late Mke of Wel-

lington. Mr. Boughey, who yesterday " h•ire his
blushing honours thick upon him," and carried
away the palm from his rivals, willforgiVe us if we,
in all kindness, suggest to him the old story of the
Athenian orator, who, on being asked what Were
the three principal parts of a speech, replied, " Ac-
tion, action, action." Still, on the whole, the per-
formance was very creditable.
The Rev. Mr. Benson, the head master, then pro-
ceeded to award the Queen's medal, which, is to the

school in point of honour what the Victoria Cross
is to the United Services. The following extract
from the statute will show the object for which this
prize was established:—
" Her Majesty would wish, by establishing this prize, to
hold up to the admiration of the students, and tothcir emu-
lation as far as they are capable of emulating such virtues,
the great qualities of the hero and statesman to whose honour
and to whose memory the college has been instituted. It is
not beyond the power of anybody to exhibit cheerful submis-
sion to superiors, unselfish good fellowship with equals, inde-
pendence and self-respect with the strong, kindness and pro-
tection to the weak, and a readiness to forgive offences to-
wards himself, and to conciliate the differences of others,
and, above all, fearlesi devotion to duty and unflinching
truthfulness. He who displays all or any of these quali-
ties will have so far trod in the steps of the great Duke."
Amid the hearty applause of his comrades and of
the whole assembly Mr. Boughey was called up to
receive the medal by the head master, who in a few
brief words highly complimented him upon the
good conduct which he had always exhibited and
upon the great assistance which he had given the
masters in forwarding the discipline and organi-
zation of the school. At the conclusion of the

speech his Royal Highness the Prince Consort pre-
sented the medal to Mr. Boughey, expressing at
the same time a hope that the success which had
marked the opening 'of his career might attend him
through life. The medal, designed, as we were in-
formed, by the Prince Consort himself, bore on one
side the head of her present Majesty; on the other
the simple motto "Duty towards God and man"
occupied the centre, encircled by the words, " In
honour of Arthur, Duke of Wellington." The
Prince Consort's prize for history was awarded to
another distinguished pupil, Mr. Cubitt, who also
received the governor's first prize for chymistry,
Mr. Boughey gaining the second chymical award.
The Archbishop of Canterbury's prize for divinity
was carried off by Mr. Chase, while Mr. Stopford,
after reading a very good specimen of French com-
position, was rewarded with the Earl iof Derby's
prize for that language. A capital scene, capitally
played, from " L'Avare," then succeeded, in which .
Spence, ma., as Maitre Jacques, threw himself so
thoroughly into the spirit of the piece as to elicit
peals of laughter from the audience. Boughey
made a good Harpagon,while La Fleche and Valero
were well played by Kelly and Stopford. Mr. Ed-
wards, the winner of the governor's prize for Latin
composition and the first mathematical prize, re-
cited a specimen of his composition, but spoke
too low for us to venture an opinion as to its
merits. The German prize was gained by Spence,
ma., who certainly, if he put the same
energy into his studies as into his acting, should
command success. A very lucid chymical essay
upon the composition, the properties, and the modes
of smelting iron was then read by Mr. Cubitt, who
obtained in return the governor's Ist prize for
chymistry. Donne, ma., and Graham, ma., respec-
tively obtained the Ist and 2d prizes for botany.
We must not omit to mention that Mr. Audain won
the 2d mathematical prize, and that Mr. Newbury
carried off the arithmetical prize against the whole
school. The school prizes, in which several of the
above-mentioned youths a second time reaped fresh
rewards, were then distributed, and consisted of
standard works of the best authors in very elegant
and beautiful bindings. The proceedings were
brought to a conclusion by a scene from the " Mid-
summer Night's Dream,' in which Bahington, as
Quince the joiner, and Spence, ma., as Bottom the
weaver, particularly distinguished themselves, giv-
ing themselves up uncontrolledly to the fun. of the
moment, and diffusing it in an astonishing manner
for such young performers among
.the spec ors.
Stevens's madrigal, " From Oberon in Fairy Land,"
tat
formed a fit epilogue to the scene, and was feelingly
rendered and enthusiastically applauded.
Domum," most creditably sung, showed sufficiently
what was to be the result of the day's ceremony.
The National Anthem, led by Mr. Bishop, the sing-
int, master, to whose exertions the admirable sing-
ing of the boys is chiefly due, concluded what may
be called the first and principal act of the perform-
ance. Between the acts the guests retired to the
residence of the head master, where an elegant
luncheon awaited them. In the afternoon a concert,
consisting of sacred and profane music, given by
the boys under the leadership of Mr. Bishop,
brought the arrangements of the day to a,n end.
The number of the
pupils is not yet completed.
At present there are 149 pupils, and there is
ample room for 60 more. - It is, however, ex-
pected , that after the vacation there will be but
few vacancies, as the excellence of the education,
combining as it does " those branches of scientific
knowledge which have a special application to
the arts, commerce, and industry of the country "
with" what is usually understood by a good English
and classical education," is beginning to be appre-
ciated.' , The boys, if we may judgem fromen tso
n theirth the
:appearance, are the best sanitary comments
situation of the school. A more
tn healthy,cgaei
wehir
tayhpt pht enargt,
manly. set of lads it has never been our lot to see.
and the results of it, we
The system which is pursuedofis i
of the late Dr. Arnold—viz.,
to the honour of the boys,
were informed, are excellent, corporal and other
much diminished since its
punishments having
introduction.