, 1874-02-15

! except tue BWlumlnfT-T0Ol,-lne wafer OF Hu1c
ls tempered at pleasure, the admirable bathing
rooms, Of which the boys are required to maxi
use at prescribed times, and the clean and mir
| hospital, where boys who are unwell, or hare me
| with an injury in their sports, are cared for b.
sallfu1 surgeons and tender nurses. Visitin:
these apartments, we next glance at the dormi
| tories, with their multitude, OF iron boastoad
| and the monitors room in tho corner; and tie:
] return tothe playground, whose memory is bus,
chilling mp the history Of the Blue-CoatB Whose
names have been b1azoned high on the scroll O.
fame. Can it be, We musingly ask ourselves
that the splder-legged, spectral-loosing "Elia
once trod theae COURTS and trembled in you
rooms under the masters 1rown? Did Horne
Tooke here begin the 'Dirersions o1
Purley." aad Wesley shout in his boyish ganlee
class-room7 Did the thoughtful Addison and
the careless, impu}siye Dicky Steele here kick
the football, and little Barrow begin the pugilis-
tic 1eats which he afterwards repeated with such
i effect in hlB struggle with Agerine corsair :?
Vas it here that the youthful Blackstone tested
in boyish games the strength Of the British Con-
stitutlon aud was It from this school that
Mitchell, the trauBlator OF Aristophanes, was
| translated to Cambridge 2 All these names are
on the muster-rols Of the Rlue.C Coat School, and
many others
| HARDLY LESS BRILLIANT.
Wo think Of these, and OF tho Bedlam cells
! to which naughty boys in Elias time wero con-
| signed; little fellows OF I years shut up all
| night in these dungeons, where they could just
! lie at length upon Btraw and q blanket !;
with only peep OF light by day, let in from :
| prison-orifce ut the top; aud permitted to come
! forth only twice week. aud then to be fogged
| by the beadle. We think Of the fierce master,
! Boyer. and his two wlgs,-the one serene, smll-
the other, an old, discolored. unkempt, angry
caxon, denoting frequent and bloody execution !,
| We see him shaking his knotty fist At a poor,
trembling child. and crying, . Sir7ah, do you
presume to set your tcts at 7ae,"-then, 1ingin1
bsck into his lair, and after few moments
1ith the exclamation, "Ods my lilo, sirral, l
have q great mind to whlp you, whicl, imperfect
sense he speedily ''piecoa out, us if it has been
BONE DEVILS LrTASY,
with the expIct0ry veil *and WILL, t0o'" We
sec tho 'gent]e Ella in another room, where
the thunders rolled innocnous, listening to the
Ufuldntes and catching glimpses OF Tarrarus;
We hear Coleridge, hardly vet in his teens, un-
folding the mysteries Of Plotinus, or reciting
Homer Of Pindar in his Greek, 10 the wondar-
ment Of the visitors; We see the poor scholar
who conveyed to his room his fragments Of
coarse mcat, which be was supposed to sell to
bcggars, for which he was accommodated BY
the other boys as gag-eafe:, until tho kind
which he denied himself to his starving parents.
We think OF the silver medal which the noble
lad received for this from the Governors OF the
school; and then, perhaps, our thoughts revert
to another boy,
TIE PETTY NERO
afterwards seen cu1prit in the hulks, who Ac-
tuaIIy branded boy who had offended him. with
red-hot irou,-and who nearly starved forty
younger lads. by e1acting from them, daily, one-
half OF their bread to panper young ass, which
the leads Of tue trdrd, Il the dor1nitories wero
called, till tho foolish beast. waxing fat. aud
kicking il the fullness OF bread, betrayed him By
braying. All these, and many other recollec-
tons, comic or touching, arc related by Lamb
and Coleridge in their own inimitabie style, but
hardly seemed TO rs, Whoo we're 4 QUO miles
away. as they DO now, realities. It VIE here,
too, that the following
LUDIcRoU5 SCENE
occurred, narrated By some graduate, to omit
which, in IN account Of this famous school,
would be like bloteing 3toses experiences from
the Vicar Of Wakefield:
Among the scholars when Lamb and Cole1idgo
attended, WAS poor c.ergyaan's son, by the
name Of Simon Jennings. On account Of his
dismal and gloomy nature, his playnates had
he went up to the master, DR.. Boyer, and said.
in his usual whimperng manner, I" Please. DR..
Boyer, the boys ali call me- Pontus Plate" II
there was one thing which old Boyer hated
it WAS tho practice Of nicknauaing. Rushing
down among the scholars from his pedestal OF
stale, with cane in hand, he cried, with his
usual voice OF thunder: Listen, boys; the next
time hear any Of you say 'Pontius Plate I'll
cane you aa long as this cane will last. You are
to say Simon Jennings and not Pontius
Pilate' Remember that, II you value your
hides" Having said this, Jupiter Tonans re-
mounted Olympus, the clouds still hanging On
his brow. Next day, when the same class we're
reciting the Catechisxn, boy Of remarkably dull
and literal turn Of mind had to repeat the creed.
He had got as far as 81 suffered under" and was
about popping out the next word when Boye1's
prohibition unluckily flashed upon his o5tuse
mind. After \ moments hesitation he blurted
out.
'tsuFFERED UNDER SIMON JENNINGS,
WAS cruci" i"--Tho rest Of the word WIS never
uttered, for Boyer had already sprung like
tiger upon him. and the cane was descending
upon his unfortunate shoulders. like
lanche. When the irate Doctor had dis
charged his cane-storm upon him, he
cried: What do you mean, you BOBBY, hy such
blnsphemy p u I only did rs you told me-" re-
piled the simple-ninded Christ. .Churchian.
ibid as told you?" roaEed old Boyer, now
wound up 10 something above the boiling point.
"What do you meani" As ho said this, he
again icstiuctivoly grasped his cane more {uri-
ously- e. Doctor: yon said re were always
t. esll - Eontius plats ~, 'sm9n Jsnnings G
prit to Coleridge, who WAS next to him. Sam
said nought; but old Boyer, who saw what
duuca he had to deal Nith, cried. "Dor, you are
fool. Where are your b7ains?" Poor DR..
BOYER Tor q SECOND l1Ql3 Was uOOIeQ. TOE IQe
schoiar said with IN earnestness which proved
its truth, but to the intense horror OF the learn
ed potentate, ''In my stomach, Sir" The Doc
tor always respected thst boys stupidity ever
after, as though half afraid that . stray blow
might be unpleasant.
BUT, WHooP!
our musings are interrupted by shouts, and away
bounds d football, followed BY al avalanche Of
boys, screaming, pushing, kicking, jostling, and
tumbling beadlong, worry much like boys in
America and showing By their earnestness, i'm
nineteenth century, and not to tho sixteenth.
But what plague their long coats are, and how
strange that the Governors do not see tho
grotesqueress and Inconvenience OF these old
monkish costumes! To play their games the
boys tuck up their coat-ta:ls, and go, ne sup
pose, will havc to do for years to come, till John
Bull can see that modern garments may be gub-
stituted without 1mpairing the stability Of the
British Constitution.
But, ha1kt burst Of martial music Is heard;
the boys have dropped the footballs, and. under
the direction O. a drill-master, are narshaled in
pla:oous, each displaying its number on flag.
After series Of oyolutions. they march, TOO
atrong, with aboy-band Of thirty performers at
their head, up the grand staircase to the Gothic