The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-10-10 00:00:00

treats school-boy life as the initiatory stage of that
mOI al andphy sicalworld, in which as menits members
are ultimately to be called on to assume and to main-
tain, as they best may, their several positions. Im-
pressed with this practical idea on the subject, he
is rather inclined to make light of, than to magnify
the difficulties which beset the career of youth at
a public school. He regards its mysterious tradi-
tional usages, and unwritten codes of laws—its con-
ventional discipline, and rigid esprit de corps as
useful helps to self-government, and the develop-
& generous feeling ; and evidently considers
sult as more than compensating for the con-
..iiitant evils, from which, practically, it is seem-
ingly impossible to separate them. He does not wail
over the hard fate of " the miserable slave" who
sans under the tyranny of a youthful taskmaster,
J. pricious and more exacting than a New
lave-owner, nor does he look with loathing
disgust and horror on those youthful days when, as a
tender boy, he was roughly handled by his seniors ;
`le contrary, he recalls to memory those days,
and recounts their adventures with a spirit of
pleasurable remembrance akin to that evinced by
most men who, having undergone and triumphed
over the ordeal, speak with grateful emotion of
those scenes and circumstances in which they have
been participators, dwelling on them with a glee
and satisfaction unknown to those of the "
." "No one," writes Mr. Melly,
not experienced such sensation can in any way appre-
ciate the feelings with which a man looks back on
the public school in which he was educated—feel-

meat o

0- -
more ca
Orleans s

world

outer

who has

ings of love and of devotion to its memory, of
affection to all who bear its name, of indignation

against all who assail its reputation and honour.
Wherever two Harbeans (Harrow-men) meet, in
any quarter of the world, their fellowship is a bond
of amity and a badge of brotherhood. Those, even,
who were most unhappy there, feel proud, in after-
life, each time they hear its name; and rejoicing
that they shared in its honour and its reputation
when boys, feel every attack upon it to be a per-
sonal insult to themselves when they become men."

An advocacy like this, founded as It is in truth, is
indeed eloquent, and carries with it ten times the
amount of conviction which is conveyed in theo-
retical diatribes, a priori arguments, or declama-
tory condemnation. In illustrating the system of
government at Harby, understood to be Harrow,
Mr. Melly leads us to know that much of the
internal regulation is dependent on the exercise of
that power which is delegated to the prwpostors,

as they are called

these are the sixth-

form boys

g men, many of them being ninetee

or twenty

_ years of age. The power vested in these
oung men is great, particularly in the punishment
f offences, the perpetration of which involves the
tonour of the establishment, the highest function

of przeposital power being the infliction of what is
called a hall-licking--that is, a judicial thrashing

dministered in the hall a the " House." An
illustration of this form of justice is given by Mr.
Melly : it arose out of a theft committed on the
" home-hamper" of one of the boys. One had
broken into the hamper and despoiled it, sharing
the plunder with other four boys. The chief depre-
,

or was dismissed, and properly dismissed, from
the school ; the punishment of the others was
deputed to the heads of the " house" to which they

At an evening assembly of the "house

the business is explaine-d in a speech by the prw-
postor, who enlarges on the disgraceful nature of
the crime, and the stigma it has brought upon the

honour of the "house' a formal sentence is then
passed on the delinquents, and then, in the follow-

ing ma:

aner, ensues the

IL-Lwrim

,ents now came forward,

and received a few words of private and personal remon:
strance from the Head of the house ; then, folding his
gether, he stood straight up in the middle

arms tig

and slig

r made. The prwpostor was about nineteen,
nade man ; and in delivering the strokes of the

a tall, wel

cane he put forth nearly all his strength ; it seemed to
me, as I shrunk within myself, as if every cut had fallen
on my back instead of that of the sufferer. At first I
thought he was never going to stop; but I soon noticed
that he counted every cut, and twelve was the number
fixed upon beforehand for the offence. Then came the

turn of the next boy, who was licked by the second
prxpostor ; the third being operated upon by the third

irtePostor.- Then, after the manner of Captain Marryatt's
execution of the deserter, the fourth, a very little boy
indeed, was let off, with no severer punishment than a
reprimand. The four Culprits then left the room. All
was over, and the sixth-form boys had nearly recovered
their usual unmoved tone of mind, when "Stop a moment!"

was uttered by one of the leaders of the ho-use, who was
not as yet in the sixth form—a tine, tall, light-haired
young man, and the greatest favourite among us, both

said h(

ad bett

with those four misguided boys. Their punish
been quite severe enough, and so we had better

any more notic

there no cutt

that sort. The prtepostors bear me outlia this view."
Let cavillers say as they will, the above scene,
if really enacted in the manner set down, and there
seems no reason for doubting that it was so, is a
good indication that the right feeling of individual
and collective honour is duly inculcated and well
understood and acted on in the establishment.

In all his arguments, Mr. Melly takes it for
granted that wherevri there is a number of boys
congregated, there acts of oppression and tyranny
will be found to exist, and he, taking for granted
the existence of the evil, contends for its regula-
tion on the principle that " what cannot be cured
must be endured. ' Opposed to this view and
these forms of argument, many contend that there
is no necessity for the existence of tyranny and
oppression. Far, very far be it from us to advo-
cate the necessity or justify the operation of
tyranny and oppression; but, with Mr. Melly, we
hold to the belief of its actual existence, and sym-
pathise to a considerable extent in his views as to
the propriety of regulating what we cannot eradi-
cate. So long as it is true that the " child is
father of the man," and that man is selfish and
self-willed, so long do we fear will be the necessity
for endeavouring to regulate those youthful incen-
tives to dangerous action which have been im-
planted in our nature.

The History of Russia, from the earliest period 1
to the present time. By Walter K. Kelly.
London : Henry G. Bohn.
As is properly observed by Mr. Kelly, works
describing the actual condition of vast tracts of
the Russian empire have for a long period been
common, and since the outbreak of the present
hostilities, have become so numerous as to leave
little reason for desiring more extensive informa-
tion as regards the details of the soil, culture, and
the social position of its people. The history of the
empire, however, as that is contained in a digested
narrative of events, and a comparison of their
results, as these have operated in formin,,c, the
national character, and placing it in the political
position it occupies, has not previously found much
cultivation. Such attempts at rendering this ser-
vice as have hitherto been made are either so dif-
fuse and loose as to offer no consecutive view of the
facts and circumstances involved in the narrative,
or so entirely one-sided and partial as to convey
anything but a legitimate impression of the steps
by which the territorial colossus has grown t 1 its
unwieldy magnitude. To remedy this deficiency
is the avowed object of Mr. Kelly, who proposes,
in two volumes—the first of which only is, as yet,
before us—to give such a view of Russian history
as will render the English reader familiar with
the leading facts and the order of their occurrence.
The first volume begins at the accession of Rurik,
and is concluded with the assent to the throne of
Catherine 11., embracing the reign of Peter the
Great. Of tis last-named monarch, Mr. Kelly
draws a truthful, if not a very flattering, character.
He shows that in a moral point of view Peter was
profligate, vicious, and unscrupulous—as a poli-
tician, greedy and unprincipled, rather than en-
lightened or magnanimous. As he properly
remarks, " The reign of that monarch was the
turning-point in the history of Russia. The em-
pire is at this day what he and his successors—in-
heritors of his system as well as of his throne—
! have contributed to make it. We judge that sys-
tem by its results. If these are irredeemably bad,
✓ what praise is due to the source from which they
Co flow ?' What, indeed ? Viewed from this point,
_ and in such relations as force themselves on the
s observation of the student, Mr. Kelly maintains,
). and proves, that the fame of Peter has been greatly
f over-estimated. So far as can be judged by the
- executed portion of his task, Mr. Kelly seems well
t qualified for the discharge of his self-imposed duties.

Handbook for Travellers in Ireland. By Jas.
Fraser. Dublin : James M`Glashan.
; admirable hand-book the traveller will
ly all the information which the most
wand. An extensive and deserved
ailed for a fourth edition of the
, and in each response to the call for farther
nukes of it, the author and the publisher have
and united their endea-
aore and more perfect
en almost entirely re
mired information ha

In this

1 their expert
____l,-.. 4-licb V

♦VUTA
The fourth edition has bet
written, much recently ac(
been added, and, wherever it S
rections have been made. It is no
a comprehensive and =v.-)

furnished with
map of Ireland, and