The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1847-12-21 00:00:00

COLLEGIATE INSTITUTION-ANNUAL DIS-

TRIBUTION OF PRIZES.

Yesterday the annual Christmas distribution of prizes
to the pupils at the Collegiate Institution took place in
the lecture theatre of that establishment. The interest.
ing proceedings of the day were fixed to commence at
twelve o'clock, but • long before that hour the spacious
building was crowded with ladies and gentlemen, the
friends and relatives of the pupils. Additional interest
was given to the meeting by the announcement that our
esteemed diocesan, the Bishop of Chester, would preside
on the occasion. The body of the hall was reserved for
the pupils and the galleries for the spectators.
During the interval between the opening of the doors
and the commencement of the proceedings, the organist
to the institution executed with great effect several well-
known compositions upon the organ, including the halle-
lujah chorus, &c. &e.
A little after twelve o'clock the Rev. Mr. Conybeare,
the principal, followed by the Lord Bishop of the diocese,
came upon the platform. The right rev. prelate, on taking
the chair, was received with loud and long continued
marks of applause. He was supported on his right by his
Worship the Mayor, and the Rev. Rector Campbell ; and
on his left by the Rev: the Principal of the Institution,
and the Masters of the Middle and Lower Schools. On
the platform their were also several of the clergy and
gentry of the town.
The " Venite" having been chaunted by the pupils,
The CHAIRMAN rose, and said that after a long inter-
val, as it seemed to him, he was happy once more to meet
them again. The assembly which he then saw before
him reminded him of former similar occasions when he
had been amongst them, and when he had taken great
interest in their proceedings ; and from what he then saw
around him he did not feel less interest on the present
occasion. It showed to him that that great institution
stood as high as ever in public estimation, and excited the
same interest in Liverpool as it had always done since
its foundation. He was, indeed, glad to find it so, but
the satisfaction which he felt did not cause surprise, be-
cause he knew the institution to have been founded upon
a principle which would insure stability. It was erected
upon no sandy foundation, but upon those principles
which both history and experience now told them were
the only principles upon which all educational establish-
ments should be founded—on the principles that religion
should form the staple of all education. (Loud cheers.)
He did not mean to say that religion should be the ex-
clusive education to be given, but it should form the prin-
cipal part of education—the basis upon which all educa-
tion should be formed. (Loud cheers.) It should not
be like the languages, or geography, or something added
to the rest of various branches of instruction, which
might be omitted if desired, but it should be the tissue
running through the web, which could not be dispensed
with. It was the principal part of education, and if it
was not included as a leading feature the great purposes
of education could not be served. (Cheers.) What was the
great purpose of education—man's future destination, to
prepare him for that state of existence which he was to
undergo hereafter—there could not, he thought, be a doubt
of that being its great purpose; they should take care,
therefore, .not to educate them for the present world, but
for immortality. (Cheers.) He was not there, nor would
that be the place, to undervalue education which applied
to the intellect. It would not be proper to deprecate all
the various branches of education, but unless religion was
made the basis, and ran through the whole, the most im-
portant part of man, which was his spiritual condition,
would certainly be neglected. Teaching the business of
this world was like the vernacular and the acquired in
education. The vernacular might be said to be en-
tirely of this world, but the acquired, if properly
directed, would look to higher ends. They would
therefore see the difference between the vernacular
and the acquired. He regretted that a system of
education was in some degree pursued in the country
where the principles of religion were excluded, and it was
therefore a subject of much congratulation to his young
1 friends before hiM that they were not under the influence
of such a system. If you, my young friends, (said the
right rev. prelate,) are immortal beings, and if the present
life, as compared with eternity, is as a grain of sand to a
mountain, surely the consequences of cultivating the in-
tellect alone, and neglecting that which refers to the spi-
ritual part of man, must be serious indeed, for you are
doing that which is temporal, and neglecting that which
is eternal—you are educating for time, and not for eter-
nity. These reflections are, I think, obvious enough. I
regret to find that the observations I have made meet with
an illustration in the recent loss this institution has sus-
tained in the premature death of your late vice-principal.
I did not know him except by reputation. By reputation,
however, I knew him well, and I can tell you that at that
place in which the intellect and religion is most cultivated
he stood very high in the esteem of all, and in the
university in which he received his instruction he received
some of the highest rewards which that university
could give. ( Great applause.) In the full enjoyment
of such a reputation, and in the full enjoyment of his
talents, he was appointed to a situation in this place, and
the friends of the institution naturally looked forward to
the benefits to be derived from his appointment. Sud-
denly, it pleased God to send illness upon him, and in a
few weeks after teaching here, he was borne to the grave
deeply lamented by those whom he had instructed. Here,
then, you see an illustration of the principle of spiritual
education. He had had a good education, but now what
does it avail him—what is it that he at his university
gained prizes, and was looked up to by his teachers as one
of great learning and talents ? This is now all forgotten.
But one thing is not forgotten. In the forgetfulness of
his having deeply cultivated a naturally superior intellect,
we recollect that at the same time he was ever a faithful
disciple of God and his Saviour, and ever wished to teach
others to do what he himself did. (Cheers.) In this
example, though dead, he speaks to you. Already has he
done so by the advice which, as I understand, he dictated
to you upon his death bed, and you may, I hope, be
impressed by it with the feeling that that which is
said in the hour of death enables us to judge of it
seriously, and conveys to us lasting impressions. (Cheers.)
Whilst in the midst of life eternity seems to us like a
distant range of hills. We look at them through a num-
ber of intervening objects, and are surprised to see how
high they are when near them. But take away the inter-
vening objects, and you see the mountain as it is, yet you
see nothing but what was there before. So with regard
to this life. Its business and duties are but the interven-
ing objects between us and eternity—a sort of mist which
prevents us from seeing it. But when death comes, the
mists are dispelled, and we, see eternity as it is—we • all
then see its importance, and yet it is really nothing but
what it was before the mists were removed. Like the
mountain which was no higher when it was seen more
clearly, so eternity is no more than what it was before
seen by death. Keep it then constantly in view in all
your transactions, and you may rely upon it that it will
prove to you the only thing precious in this life and in
that which is to come. Let the vanity of all human
intellect and acquirements persuade you to begin life as
you would wish to end it—as I fervently wish all may end
it—with eternity in view. I have been led to make these
remarks from the melancholy circumstance to which I
have alluded, and I trust the lesson it teaches will long
remain upon your memories. We must now proceed to
the more immediate business of the meeting. (The right
rev. prelate resumed his seat amidst loud and long con-
tinued applause.)
The Rev. PRINCIPAL commenced to read the prizes.
The first was the senior divinity medal and prizes in the
upper, lower, and middle schools. [The names of the
successful competitors will be seen in the full list of prizes
subjoined.] The Principal called the several competitors
upon the platform.
The CHAIRMAN, in presenting the prizes, observed
that he could not lose the opportunity of observing that
the first prize was an illustration of the truth of that to
which he had alluded—the importance of religious educa-
tion. It was for the study of divinity. The subject
chosen was a most important one, being Paley's Evid-
ences of Christianity. No book had made a greater im-
pression on the public mind than that had done. It had
silenced infidelity, and though they might sometimes hear
of unbelievers', he thought there were no argumentative
unbelievers; and if there were any who unhappily were
induced to read any of the works of an unbeliever they
would find that he wrote without knowing his subject,
and was intirely ignorant of the principles of Christianity.
A great difference had taken place in men's minds since
the publication of that book, within the last 50 years, and
he congratulated the pupils on the study of such a work.
(Cheers.)
The PRINCIPAL then called upon the platform the suc-
cessful candidates for7-the.
prizes, in the three schools.
The CHAIRMAN congratulated all three competitors on
the fact of having thus early obtained distinction, and he
trusted it was only the prelude to future distinctions in
the course of their lives. The subject to which their
studies had been directed was the history of Louis XIV.
There were many useful lessons in that extraordinary his-
tory. In no other history, perhaps was to be found a
more striking illustration of the evil consequences of the
bad government of the people. The evil effects of a de-
mocratic government were bad enough, but in the history
they had before them they had the effects of a despotic
government, which were certainly not less evil and de-
structive to the welfare of a country than a democracy.
They saw from that history what a despotic monarch could
do when not controlled. The reign of Louis XIV. was a
remarkable career ; it showed despotism in its worst form.
He trusted it would teach them to value our own form of
government, which was neither despotic nor democratic,
but a government in which they would recognize the
greatest security to all classes. One great lesson which
the study of this monarch's history would teach them was
the folly of ambition. He seemed to have had ino object
but that of personal aggrandisement, and yet, what was
the result of the closing days of his life ? All was disap-
pointment. Such would ever be the result of such an am-
bition as his. He trusted they had drawn such deduc-
tions from the study of his life, and that it would induce
them to admit our own excellent form of government.
(Cheers.)
The PRINCIPAL next called the fortunate competitors
for the Senior Mathematical Medal (R. H. Hart). and
prizes.
The CHAIRMAN, in presenting the prizes, said he con-
gratulated the pupil on having distinguished themselves in
so important a branch of learning. It was one which, when
properly cultivated, improved considerably the general
mind. There was no age in which mathematics were of
greater importance or more useful to the possessor; than
the present. He (the Chairman) hoped they would derive
all the advantages which their studies were capable of con-
ferring. (Cheers.)
The PRINCIPAL raid there were two of the pupils which
he now had peculiar pleasure in calling upon to receive
the reward of merit. They were from the middle and
lower schools. Perhaps his Lordship was aware that
amongst their regulations, they had two nominations,
under which the pupils might be transferred by merit to
the higher schools, without additional charge. He then
called upon the platform, Master Bowman from the mid-
dle, and Master Holden trout the lower school,